Ostracode carbonate ?18O- and ?13C-signature of hydrological and climatic changes affecting Lake Neuch�tel, Switzerland, since the latest Pleistocene

Abstract

Stable oxygen and carbon isotope geochemistry of ostracode calcite from a core taken at a site 40 m deep in Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland, shows distinct and rapid shifts since deglaciation. These shifts are interpreted in terms both of climatic changes and of the impact of major changes in the catchment input. The Aar River, draining a high-altitude Alpine catchment, either entered or bypassed the lake during the latest Pleistocene to the mid-Holocene. During the Preboreal and two short intervals between interpolated ages of 7200 and 6950 yr BP and since 4850 yr BP the Aar River has bypassed the lake.