Multiple Dating of a Freeze Core from Lake 227, an Experimentally Fertilized Lake with Varved Sediments

Abstract

A freeze core taken from Experimental Lakes Area Lake 227 in 1988 contained 321 rhythmically paired, dark and light laminations in the upper 60.7 cm. Tape peels revealed cyclic, seasonal abundance peaks in organic and inorganic remains, which suggested that the couplets are varves. However, comparison between varve chronology and 22 yr of experimental changes in phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) loading and their influence on the planktonic community confirmed that the most recent varve-year estimates were 5 or 6 yr too old; this was caused by irregular sedimentation and multiple algal blooms resulting from experimental fertilization since 1969, and indistinct laminations that hampered precise couplet identification and separation. Dated horizons determined from biostratigraphic markers were used to generate compatible profiles between 1-cm slices of Lake 227 137Cs flux and reference fallout records. Nutrient concentration profiles were less helpful, as increases in carbon, N, and, P were gradual and no distinct horizon was identified as a clear marker of eutrophication. Long-term assessment of the varve chronology using 210Pb was hindered by experimental additions of 226Ra to the lake in 1970, although similar sedimentation rates from varve years 1860–1934 suggested that the varve and the deep part of the 210Pb chronologies were comparable.