Sedimentary geochemical evidence for recent eutrophication of Lake Chenghai, Yunnan, China

Abstract

Geochemical anomalies and stable isotope ratios (δ18O, δ13C) in authigenic carbonates and organic matter (δ13C) from a 660-year sediment core from Lake Chenghai, southern China, provide a continuous history of recent lake eutrophication. The multi-proxy geochemical and isotopic record can be divided into a three-part history of contrasting limnological development, including: (1) a clear-water, oligotrophic open lake system (1340 and 1690 AD); (2) an environmentally unstable, hydrologically closed, oligotrophic lake system (1690–1940 AD); and (3) an increasingly eutrophic, closed lake system marked by higher organic matter, nitrogen, CaCO3, and pigment concentrations, and lower δ18O and δ13C values in authigenic calcite (1940–1999 AD). The unanticipated lowering of δ18O and δ13C of authigenic calcite during eutrophication is thought to be the result of disequilibrium water–carbonate fractionation of oxygen and carbon isotopes during periods of elevated primary production, pH, and [CO3 2−] activities in the water column. The recent eutrophication of Lake Chenghai indicated by these geochemical proxies is essentially simultaneous with large-scale human migration and the application of agricultural fertilizers in the catchment area during the 20th century.