Lake El Research Articles

Amino acid-assimilating phototrophic heliobacteria from soda lake environments: Heliorestis acidaminivorans sp. nov. and ‘Candidatus Heliomonas lunata’

Two novel taxa of heliobacteria, Heliorestis acidaminivorans sp. nov. strain HR10B(T) and 'Candidatus Heliomonas lunata' strain SLH, were cultured from shoreline sediments/soil of Lake El Hamra (Egypt) and lake water/benthic sediments of Soap Lake (USA), respectively; both are highly alkaline soda lakes. Cells of strain HR10B were straight rods, while cells of strain SLH were curved rods. Both organisms were obligate anaerobes, produced bacteriochlorophyll g, and lacked intracytoplasmic photosynthetic membrane systems. Although the absorption spectrum of strain HR10B was typical of other heliobacteria, that of strain SLH showed unusually strong absorbance of the OH-chlorophyll a component. Major carotenoids of both organisms were OH-diaponeurosporene glucosyl esters, as in other alkaliphilic heliobacteria, and both displayed an alkaliphilic and mesophilic phenotype. Strain HR10B was remarkable among heliobacteria in its capacity to photoassimilate a number of carbon sources, including several amino acids. Nitrogenase activity was observed in strain HR10B, but not in strain SLH. The 16S ribosomal RNA gene tree placed strain HR10B within the genus Heliorestis, but distinct from other described species. By contrast, strain SLH was phylogenetically more closely related to neutrophilic heliobacteria and is the first alkaliphilic heliobacterium known outside of the genus Heliorestis.

Assessment of purification and contamination correction methods for analysing the oxygen isotope composition from biogenic silica

Mineral particles and other contaminants cause a serious and undesirable shift in δ18O values of biogenic silica and should be removed prior to isotope analysis. This problem is particularly significant in the fraction containing clay particles and therefore the fraction <10μm is generally avoided. Here, we present an updated preparation protocol for the <10μm fraction based on known methods, developed using test material from short cores of Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Russia. New contamination assessment and correction techniques are discussed. Best results (low initial weight/high precision and throughput rate) for the <10μm fraction were achieved using geochemical mass-balancing and determining the “percentage of contamination” by analysing the sample's and end-member's Al2O3 with improved Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) protocols or by determining the factor for calculating the percentage of contamination from the Al2O3 percentage of clay assemblages. Despite using small initial weights for ICP-OES (10mg) and EDS analysis (<0.5mg) a sufficiently high precision (for low Al2O3 percentages between 0.1 and 1.5%) could be achieved.For the >10μm fraction, point-counting under the light microscope was the preferred option. The different size-fractions from Lake El'gygytgyn samples show a distinct and significantly different species composition (average counts: <10μm: >90% Cyclotella ocellata complex; >10μm: >60% Pliocaenicus seczkinae). Differences in the oxygen isotope composition of these different size fractions could be explained by a species-effect on the δ18O values. However, this species-effect disappeared after the correction (avg δ18O <10μm: 19.8±0.6‰; >10μm: 19.8±0.4‰). By comparing these δ18O values with additional recent water samples, an average 1000 ln α of 39.6‰ for Lake El'gygytgyn sub-recent diatoms was calculated. This “tool-kit” provides support for the presented improved contamination assessment and corrections and allows utilising smaller initial weight (app. 10mg) and small fractions (<10μm) for gaining corrected, higher resolution δ18O records.

Cladoceran assemblages in a karstic lake as indicators of hydrological alterations

The anthropogenic impact on wetlands has increased during the last centuries when infrastructures such as canals or dams, have proliferated. In this article, we have used cladoceran sub-fossils to investigate the effects of a canal on lake El Tobar (Spain). The canal has been transferring water from a reservoir, built in another valley, into this lake since its construction in the mid-1960s. Cladoceran remains were analyzed in two sediment profiles from each of the two sub-basins of the lake. The sedimentary sequences showed that the mentioned human activity provoked a clear shift in the cladoceran community. A PCA was performed with samples from both sub-basins to detect the direction and nature of the changes. Before water transference, the phytophilous chydorid community, represented by Acroperus angustatus in one sub-basin and by both A. angustatus and Graptoleberis testudinaria in the other sub-basin, were well developed. After the construction of the canal and the inflow of additional yet different water from the reservoir, the proportion of chydorids relative to total cladoceran diminished considerably; this was mainly due to the invasion of Bosmina longirostris. These results indicate that the hydrological alteration caused a shift from an oligotrophic, shallower lake with a rich plant-associated cladoceran community to a more eutrophic lake with a predominant planktonic cladoceran community; and that cladoceran remains are a powerful tool to detect hydrological changes and eutrophication.

Millennial-Scale Arctic Climate Change of the last 3.6 Million Years: Scientific Drilling at Lake El'gygytgyn, Northeast Russia

Millennial-Scale Arctic Climate Change of the last 3.6 Million Years: Scientific Drilling at Lake El'gygytgyn, Northeast Russia

Late Quaternary lake-level changes of Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Siberia

Lake El'gygytgyn is situated in a 3.6 Ma old impact crater in northeastern Siberia. Presented here is a reconstruction of the Quaternary lake-level history as derived from sediment cores from the southern lake shelf. There, a cliff-like bench 10 m below the modern water level has been investigated. Deep-water sediments on the shelf indicate high lake levels during a warm Mid-Pleistocene period. One period with low lake level prior to Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 has been identified, followed by a period of high lake level (10 m above present). In the course of MIS 2 the lake level dropped to − 10 m. At the end of MIS 2 the bench was formed and coarse beach sedimentation occurred. Subsequently, the lake level rose rapidly to the Holocene level. Changes in water level are likely linked to climate variability. During relatively temperate periods the lake becomes free of ice in summer. Strong wave actions transport sediment parallel to the coast and towards the outlet, where the material tends to accumulate, resulting in lake level rise. During cold periods the perennial lake ice cover hampers any wave activity and pebble-transport, keeping the outlet open and causing the lake level to drop.

Co-occurrence of long chain diols, keto-ols, hydroxy acids and keto acids in recent sediments of Lake El Junco, Galápagos Islands

Lipid biomarkers in lacustrine sediments provide valuable information about lake history and environmental change. Here we report the occurrence of a unique set of lipid biomarkers from a freshwater crater lake, El Junco, in the Galápagos. In addition to previously reported alkadienes, botryococcenes and lycopadienes indicative of Botryococcus braunii A, B and L races, we find highly branched C25 isoprenoids (HBIs) from diatoms, monomethyl alkanes likely from insect epicuticular waxes, long chain alkenols, diols and a triol, keto-ols, hydroxy acids and keto acids. Saturated and mono-unsaturated long chain diols from C30–C36 had terminal hydroxyl groups and hydroxyl groups between the ω16 and ω20 positions. Vicinal diols with hydroxyl groups at ω9 and ω10 were likely from the floating fern Azolla. C30–C36 keto-ols, mid-chain hydroxy and keto acids had mid-chain functional groups at similar positions to the diols, suggesting common origins. The predominance of ω20-hydroxy acids and diols, together with 20,21-dihydroxy-nonacosanoic acid is indicative of an Azolla source, while ω16 and ω18 hydroxy acids and diols imply a microalgal source.

The Lake El'gygytgyn Scientific Drilling Project &amp;ndash; Conquering Arctic Challenges through Continental Drilling

Between October 2008 and May 2009, the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) co-sponsored a campaign at Lake El´gygytgyn, located in a 3.6-Ma-old meteorite impact crater in northeastern Siberia. Drilling targets included three holes in the center of the 170-m-deep lake, utilizing the lake ice cover as a drilling platform, plus one hole close to the shore in the western lake catchment. At the lake’s center. the entire 315-m-thick lake sediment succession was penetrated. The sediments lack any hiatuses (i.e., no evidence of basin glaciation or desiccation), and their composition reflects the regional climatic and environmental history with great sensitivity. Hence, the record provides the first comprehensive and widely timecontinuous insights into the evolution of the terrestrial Arctic since mid-Pliocene times. This is particularly true for the lowermost 40 meters and uppermost 150 meters of the sequence, which were drilled with almost 100% recovery and likely reflect the initial lake stage during the Pliocene and the last ~2.9 Ma, respectively. Nearly 200 meters of underlying rock were also recovered; these cores consist of an almost complete section of the various types of impact breccias including broken and fractured volcanic basement rocks and associated melt clasts. The investigation of this core sequence promises new information concerning the El´gygytgyn impact event, including the composition and nature of the meteorite, the energy released, and the shock behavior of the volcanic basement rocks. Complementary information on the regional environmental history, including the permafrost history and lake-level fluctuations, is being developed from a 142-m-long drill core recovered from the permafrost deposits in the lake catchment. This core consists of gravelly and sandy alluvial fan deposits in ice-rich permafrost, presumably comprising a discontinuous record of both Quaternary and Pliocene deposits. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; doi:&lt;a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2204/iodp.sd.11.03.2011" target="_blank"&gt;10.2204/iodp.sd.11.03.2011&lt;/a&gt;

Geochemical characteristics of sediments from Lake El’gygytgyn, Chukotka Peninsula, as indicators of climatic variations for the past 350 ka

This paper presents data on the inorganic geochemical characteristics of the sediments from Hole LZ1024 (Lake El’gygytgyn, Chukotka, 67°30′ N 172°08′ E). It is demonstrated how these data are associated with climatic variations during isotope stages 1–9. The sediments of the warm stages are characterized by elevated contents of SiO2, CaO, Na2O, K2O, and Sr and low concentrations of TiO2, Al2O3, MgO, and Fe2O3. It has been established that the geochemical parameters correlate with global climatic variations.

Morphogenesis in Cyclotella ocellata — complex from Lake El’gygytgyn (Chukchi Peninsula) during the Pleistocene-Holocene

The morphology of valves of Cyclotella ocellata from bottom sediments of Lake El’gygytgyn, Chukchi Peninsula, has been studied with help of light and scanning electron microscopes. Considerable variability in the morphology of valves and gradual elimination of forms with big valves were observed upwards the section. The complex evolved by phenotype selection: kuetzingina-morphotype was replaced by ocellatamorphotype and, in the latest Pleistocene, also by arctica-morphotype. Changes in the valve morphology were mainly caused by paleoclimatic fluctuations.

Paleosecular variation and paleointensity records for the last millennium from southern South America (Laguna Potrok Aike, Santa Cruz, Argentina)

High-resolution paleo- and rock magnetic studies were performed on a group of four sediment cores from Laguna Potrok Aike (Santa Cruz, Argentina) representing the time period AD 1300–2000. The rock magnetic analyses show that the main magnetic mineral is (titano)magnetite with a concentration between 0.01 and 0.08%, and a grain size of 4–15 μm. This study is helpful in order to complete the paleosecular variation (PSV) and paleointensity type curves for South America which do not have a detailed record for the last millennium. The comparison with the study carried out for Lake El Trébol shows a very good agreement, supporting that PSV records of south-western Argentina can be developed into a stratigraphic correlation tool on a regional scale.

Quantitative characteristics of soil mesofauna in the semidesert solonetzic complex of the north Caspian region

The results of long-term quantitative assessments of the invertebrate populations inhabiting the soils of a clayey semidesert are analyzed. The dominant species in the different soils of a solonetzic soil complex are compared. The distribution patterns of the dominant groups of invertebrates in relation to the soil and vegetation complexity dictated by the clearly expressed microrelief are discussed. The changes in the populations of the soil invertebrates are considered against the background of changes in the precipitation during the growing season in different years. It is shown that the population density of the soil invertebrates varies within broad limits in all the soils of the complex. At the same time, it remains considerably lower in the solonchakous solonetzes of the microhighs in comparison with that in the soils of the slopes and microlows. The most contrasting differences in the species composition and the numbers of soil invertebrates are observed for the solonetzes of the microhighs and the meadow-chestnut soils of the microlows. This work was performed at the Dzhanybek Research Station of the Institute of Forestry of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the Volga-Ural interfluve (30 km to the north of Lake El’ton).

Review of the fauna of Rotatoria, Cladocera, and Copepoda of the basin of the Anadyr’ River

The zooplankton composition is studied in the thermokarst, glacial and meteorite lakes, channels, former riverbeds, and hollows in the basin of Anadyr’. We found 174 taxa: 78, Rotatoria, 55, Cladocera, and 41, Copepoda. The most diverse is the lake fauna: 51 taxa of Rotatoria, 48, Cladocera, and 37, Copepoda. The thermokarst Lake Maiorskoe hosts 68 taxa: 31, Rotatoria, 14, Cladocera, and 23, Copepoda, wheras the cold ultraoligotrophic Lake El’gygytgyn features only one species of Cyclop of the group scutifer Cyclops neymanae Strel., and Rotatoria and Cladocera are present as allochtonous forms. The Copepoda illustrate the relations of the Anadyr’ fauna with those of Europe, North America, and Japan.

Seismic Prediction While Drilling (SPWD): Looking Ahead of the Drill Bit by Application of Phased Array Technology

No abstract available. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.9.08.2010

UVR induce optical changes and phosphorous release of lake water and macrophyte leachates in shallow Andean lakes

We carried out laboratory experiments in order to study the effect of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on optical features and phosphorous release of Dissolved Organic Mater (DOM) from lake water and macrophyte leachates. Lake water samples were obtained from lakes Escondido and El Trebol, and macrophytes (Potamogeton linguatus and Schoenoplectus californicus) from their littoral zones. After UVR exposure, DOM from lake El Trebol seemed to react more quickly than that from Lake Escondido and this seems to be related with the degree of lability or aromaticity in the DOM bulk of each lake. Leachates from both macrophytes showed different absorbance spectra with differences in photochemical transformations after UVR exposure: S. californicus leachates exhibited the highest photodegradation. A significant Soluble Reactive Phosphorus (SRP) release was observed in lake water after UVR exposure. Lake El Trebol showed the highest SRP concentrations, suggesting that the release of orthophosphate was favored by low molecular weight DOM. P. linguatus leachates have more dissolved phosphorus content than S. californicus ones and after UVR exposure, P. linguatus leachate did not react to UVR while S. californicus exhibited a decrease in SRP. However both macrophyte leachates showed the higher P release in darkness. The obtained results indicated that macrophyte leachates could contribute significantly to changes in the optical characteristics and in the nutrient content in shallow Andean lakes. An increasing input of P. linguatus leachates would produce DOM of high molecular size and a higher P release than S. californicus.

A combined oxygen and silicon diatom isotope record of Late Quaternary change in Lake El'gygytgyn, North East Siberia

Determining the response of sites within the Arctic Circle to long-term climatic change remains an essential pre-requisite for assessing the susceptibility of these regions to future global warming and Arctic amplification. To date, existing records from North East Russia have demonstrated significant spatial variability across the region during the late Quaternary. Here we present diatom δ 18O and δ 30Si data from Lake El'gygytgyn, Russia, and suggest environmental changes that would have impacted across West Beringia from the Last Glacial Maximum to the modern day. In combination with other records, the results raise the potential for climatic teleconnections to exist between the region and sites in the North Atlantic. The presence of a series of 2–3‰ decreases in δ 18O diatom during both the Last Glacial and the Holocene indicates the sensitivity of the region to perturbations in the global climate system. Evidence of an unusually long Holocene thermal maximum from 11.4 ka BP to 7.6 ka BP is followed by a cooling trend through the remainder of the Holocene in response to changes in solar insolation. This is culminated over the last 900 years by a significant decrease in δ 18O diatom of 2.3‰, which may be related to a strengthening and easterly shift of the Aleutian Low in addition to possible changes in precipitation seasonality.

Late Quaternary mass movement events in Lake El′gygytgyn, North‐eastern Siberia

AbstractLake El′gygytgyn is situated in a 3·6 Myr old impact crater in North‐eastern Siberia. Its sedimentary record probably represents the most complete archive of Pliocene and Quaternary climate change in the terrestrial Arctic. In order to investigate the influence of gravitational sediment transport on the pelagic sediment record in the lake centre, two sediment cores were recovered from the lower western lake slope. The cores penetrate a sub‐recent mass movement deposit that was identified by 3·5 kHz echo sounding. In the proximal part of this deposit, deformed sediments reflect an initial debris flow characterized by limited sediment mixture. Above and in front of the debrite, a wide massive densite indicates a second stage with a liquefied dense flow. The mass movement event led to basal erosion of ca 1 m thick unconsolidated sediments along parts of its flow path. The event produced a suspension cloud, whose deposition led to the formation of a turbidite. The occurrence of the turbidite throughout the lake and the limited erosion at its base mainly suggest deposition by ‘pelagic rain’ following Stokes’ Law. Very similar radiocarbon dates obtained in the sediments directly beneath and above the turbidite in the central lake confirm this interpretation. When applying the depositional model for the Late Quaternary sediment record of Lake El′gygytgyn, the recovered turbidites allow reconstruction of the frequency and temporal distribution of large mass movement events at the lake slopes. In total, 28 turbidites and related deposits were identified in two, 12·9 and 16·6 m long, sediment cores from the central lake area covering approximately 300 kyr.

Age and paleomagnetism of the Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt (OCVB) near Lake El'gygytgyn, Chukotka, Russia

Abstract. Paleomagnetic results from the upper two thirds of the whole section of the Okhotsk-Chukotka Volcanic Belt (OCVB) volcanics exposed in the area around Lake El'gygytgyn, Chukotka yield stable, consistent magnetic vectors and well-preserved reversed directions. The magnetostratigraphy and 40Ar/39Ar geochronologic data reported here indicate that the sampled OCVB volcanics were erupted between about 90 and 67 Ma, and show no significant change in the apparent pole position over that time. The OCVB extends from northeast China, across Northeast Russia to the Bering Straight. This belt is made up of both extrusive and intrusive rocks, with the extrusive rocks and their associated sediments being dominant. The whole belt important in interpreting the paleogeography of the region because it overlies many of the accreted terranes of Northeast Russia. Most importantly, it overlies parts of the Chukotka-Alaska block which is thought to have moved out of the Arctic Ocean region, as well as terranes accreted from the south. These latter terranes have been rafted northwards on the paleo-plates of the Pacific, implying that the present relative paleogeography of all of the terranes overlain by the OCVB were essentially in place by 67 Ma, and possibly as early as 90 Ma. However, comparing our paleomagnetic pole position for the OCVB with those for North America and Eurasia (a proxy for Siberia) shows a statistically significant displacement of the OCVB pole to the south west. This implies that not only the OCVB, but the underlying terranes of northeast Russia, experienced southerly displacement with respect to the Siberian and North American platforms since the Late Cretaceous.

Complex Drilling Logistics for Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Russia

Complex Drilling Logistics for Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Russia

Complex Drilling Logistics for Lake El’gygytgyn, NE Russia

No abstract available. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; doi:&lt;a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2204/iodp.sd.7.05.2009" target="_blank"&gt;10.2204/iodp.sd.7.05.2009&lt;/a&gt;

Lake El’gygytgyn’s emerging IPY record of Pliocene to recent Arctic change

Lake El’gygytgyn’s emerging IPY record of Pliocene to recent Arctic change