Lake Mud Research Articles

The Holocene environmental changes in southern Indonesia reconstructed from highland caldera lake sediment in Bali Island

Diatom, pollen, geomagnetic and geochemical analyses were carried out on a 3.6 m long sediment core taken from Lake Buyan, a highland caldera lake in central Bali Island, to reconstruct the Holocene climate changes in equatorial southern Indonesia. The core represents ∼8 thousand years sedimentation of organic-diatomaceous lake mud. Constant inclusion of benthic diatom fossils as main components indicated that suspension and inflow of littoral materials were the main sedimentary process. The core contained laminated sediments in two distinct intervals at 6.5–5.0 and 3.6–3.1 cal ky BP, and multi-proxy records showed generally drier climate in these sections especially at 3.6–3.1 cal ky BP. Lake bottom waters were more reducing condition in these laminated periods probably due to increased lake productivity by prolonged dry season and wind mixing. Laminae structures were made up of a layer composed of benthic diatoms and amorphous organic materials, and a layer made by only planktonic diatom fossils, each of which may represent rainy and dry period deposits. Although southern Indonesia shows clear Australian monsoon rainfall seasonality at present, counting of layer numbers showed interannual cycles of laminae formation. Prolonged dry seasons could obscured the rainfall seasonality in these periods, but precise depositional patterns were elusive. Unlaminated sections showed homogeneous sediment mixture of benthic, planktonic diatoms and more volume of terrigenous materials indicating wetter climate and seasonality similar to the present time. This was supported by the higher share of marsh environment pollens reflecting more stable lake level trends. The dry climate from 6.5 cal ky BP was in line with the general perception of stronger ENSO dynamics from the mid Holocene due to weaker than before boreal summer insolation, but the sporadic appearances of dry periods imply the influence of regional climate forcings such as temporal migrations of inter tropical convergence zone (ITCZ). It was, however, possible that temporal shifts of large climate mode occurred in equatorial Pacific and Indian Oceans. Wettest climate was inferred from 3.1 cal ky BP to the present and this might reflect increased importance of Austral hemisphere atmospheric convection and subsequent southerly position of ITCZ in Austral summer time.

Geochemical evolution of groundwater in the Mud Lake area, Eastern Idaho, USA

Groundwater with elevated dissolved-solids concentrations—containing large concentrations of chloride, sodium, sulfate, and calcium—is present in the Mud Lake area of Eastern Idaho. The source of these solutes is unknown; however, an understanding of the geochemical sources and processes controlling their presence in groundwater in the Mud Lake area is needed to better understand the geochemical sources and processes controlling the water quality of groundwater at the Idaho National Laboratory. The geochemical sources and processes controlling the water quality of groundwater in the Mud Lake area were determined by investigating the geology, hydrology, land use, and groundwater geochemistry in the Mud Lake area, proposing sources for solutes, and testing the proposed sources through geochemical modeling with PHREEQC. Modeling indicated that sources of water to the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer were groundwater from the Beaverhead Mountains and the Camas Creek drainage basin; surface water from Medicine Lodge and Camas Creeks, Mud Lake, and irrigation water; and upward flow of geothermal water from beneath the aquifer. Mixing of groundwater with surface water or other groundwater occurred throughout the aquifer. Carbonate reactions, silicate weathering, and dissolution of evaporite minerals and fertilizer explain most of the changes in chemistry in the aquifer. Redox reactions, cation exchange, and evaporation were locally important. The source of large concentrations of chloride, sodium, sulfate, and calcium was evaporite deposits in the unsaturated zone associated with Pleistocene Lake Terreton. Large amounts of chloride, sodium, sulfate, and calcium are added to groundwater from irrigation water infiltrating through lake bed sediments containing evaporite deposits and the resultant dissolution of gypsum, halite, sylvite, and bischofite.

Study on removal of radioactive material from marine and lake mud

Study on removal of radioactive material from marine and lake mud

Extended vegetation histories from ultramafic karst depressions

Solutional landforms (karst) can form on old surfaces on ultramafic rocks in the tropics because of the solubility of some magnesium-rich minerals under warmth and high CO2. The radiocarbon dating of organic pond deposits in several tropical ultramafic karst hollows demonstrates that very slow sediment accumulation has occurred, relative to other tropical shallow lakes. Some sites have gaps in their records, whereas others appear continuous. Sections of organic lake muds from the Indonesian sites Wanda and Hordorli provide sequences of ages from modern back to >35 000 years ago at depths of 3–4 m. In New Caledonia, no Holocene record has been obtained, and dates of 17 000–30 000 years ago are found near the top of deep organic layers that, in some cases, are buried by inorganic muds derived from an erosion event. These ages, pollen analyses and the increasingly compressed organic sediments with depth mean that deeper levels should be well beyond radiocarbon dating limits. Only at one New Caledonian lake were deeper sediments beyond detectable 14C measurement. Other sites returned finite dates at all levels tested, suggesting that some mechanism is moving small amounts of younger organics down profile. The slow sediment-accumulation rates provide an explanation why high concentrations of pollen relative to tropical peats and limnic sediments derived from high nutrition substrates are preserved in the sediments. This makes them attractive targets for studying the palaeoecology and forest stability of the surrounding vegetation. The sites are sensitive to disturbance because the poor nutrition impedes successional recovery after disturbances such as fire and landslips.

Air pollutant contamination and acidification of surface waters in the North York Moors, UK: Multi-proxy evidence from the sediments of a moorland pool

Despite the extensive geographical range of palaeolimnological studies designed to assess the extent of surface water acidification in the United Kingdom during the 1980s, little attention was paid to the status of surface waters in the North York Moors (NYM). In this paper, we present sediment core data from a moorland pool in the NYM that provide a record of air pollution contamination and surface water acidification. The 41-cm-long core was divided into three lithostratigraphic units. The lower two comprise peaty soils and peats, respectively, that date to between approximately 8080 and 6740 cal. BP. The uppermost unit comprises peaty lake muds dating from between approximately ad 1790 and the present day (ad 2006). The lower two units contain pollen dominated by forest taxa, whereas the uppermost unit contains pollen indicative of open landscape conditions similar to those of the present. Heavy metal, spheroidal carbonaceous particle, mineral magnetics and stable isotope analysis of the upper sediments show clear evidence of contamination by air pollutants derived from fossil-fuel combustion over the last c. 150 years, and diatom analysis indicates that the naturally acidic pool became more acidic during the 20th century. We conclude that the exceptionally acidic surface waters of the pool at present (pH = c. 4.1) are the result of a long history of air pollution and not because of naturally acidic local conditions. We argue that the highly acidic surface waters elsewhere in the NYM are similarly acidified and that the lack of evidence of significant recovery from acidification, despite major reductions in the emissions of acidic gases that have taken place over the last c. 30 years, indicates the continuing influence of pollutant sulphur stored in catchment peats, a legacy of over 150 years of acid deposition.

How to Utilize Relevance Vectors to Collect Required Data for Modeling Water Quality Constituents and Fine Sediment in Natural Systems: Case Study on Mud Lake, Idaho

AbstractThe development of monitoring programs for water quality and habitat assessment in surface waters is an ongoing challenge because of inherent difficulties in determining the effective spatial and temporal distribution of sites and trips. Recent advances in statistical learning theory, in which system characteristics are learned from data, point to the possibility of using the information content of data to shed light on monitoring results that provide sensitive and independent results. One of those techniques, multivariate relevance vector machines (MVRVM), creates as part of its algorithm subsets of a data set, called relevant vectors (RVs), that are most relevant for building an empirical model of a process, thereby revealing the information-rich portions of the data and potentially providing unambiguous information for management decision making. In this paper, we explore this concept in the context of a shallow lake, Mud Lake in SE Idaho, used as a sediment trap and as a wildlife refuge that i...

Gravity flow sedimentation and tight oil exploration in lower first member of Shahejie Formation in slope area of Qikou Sag, Bohai Bay Basin

Abstract Based on observation of cores and thin slices and analysis of drilling, log and test data, the gravity flow deposits characteristics and formation conditions and characteristics of tight oil in lower first member of Shahejie Formation (Es1x) were systematically analyzed in Qikou Sag, Huanghua depression, Bohai Bay Basin. There mainly developed sandy debris flow, muddy debris flow and classical turbidity flow in the study area, and sandstone with boulder-clay is mostly sandy debris flow origin, muddy debris flow deposits are mudstone or silty mudstone with sandy lumps, the normal graded bedding is a reliable sign of classical turbidite. Affected by multi-source supply, slope break, different trigger mechanism and fluctuation of lake level, multi-gravity flows formed multi-level fans in mid-low slope to main sag, which can be divided into five micro-facies including submerged main channel, submerged distributary channel, lateral channel margin, mud between channels and turbidite sheet sand. Multi-level and multi-stage gravity flow sediments provide material foundations for tight oil and gas in the deep mud and sand-rich lake, where wide spread tight reservoirs and high quality source rocks contact closely vertically, forming multiple sets of sandwich-like source-reservoir-seal assemblages. Exploration shows that the submerged distributary channel and turbidite sheet sand of sandy debris flow are two main exploration facies of gravity flow in Es1x and important area of scale reserve increase in slope zones of Qikou Sag.

The Characteristics of Sedimentary Facies of Tanzhuang Formation of Upper Triassic of Luoyi District

Based on the observation and description of single well and outcrops and the analysis of reservoir compositions, petrology, clastic structure and sedimentary structure,this paper determines the sedimentaty facies characteristics of Tanzhuang formation. The types of sedimentary facies in late Triassic epoch are delta front,shallow lake and semi-deep lake. The delta front develops subaqueous distributary channel, mouth bar and distal bar. Lacustrine facies develops shallow lake mud, shallow lake sand bar, turbidite sand and semi-deep lake mud.The reservoir rock formations in this area are lithic sandstone,feldspathic lithic sandstone with high content of feldspar and debris.The sedimentary structures include ripple, scour surface and cross-bedding are identified.

Desert Lake: art, science and stories from Paruku

Desert lake: art, science and stories from Paruku Steve Morton, Mandy Martin, Kim Mahood and John Carty (eds) 2013 CSIRO Publishing, Canberra, 312pp, ISBN 9780643106284 (hbk) This volume represents a brilliant fusion of Traditional Knowledge, origin narratives, Western science and contemporary art. It is based on 'deep-time' complex human-landscape relationships from a highly significant lake system known as Paruku in the south-east Kimberley region. Known on cartographic charts as Lake Gregory, it is the only co-ordinated drainage system that flows from the east Kimberley into the expansive linear dune fields of the Great Sandy Desert. The lake was once a mega-lake, many times its current size, reflecting massive monsoonal rains more akin to central Indonesia than the present Kimberley desert edge. It hosted an enhanced aquatic and avian fauna and was likely a highly attractive lake for early settlers--being surrounded by savannah woodlands and grasses with grazing terrestrial fauna. Indeed, it was at such major water bodies that peoples transitioned into the desert hunter-gatherer adaptations we think of today as the ethnographic norm. They persisted in an increasingly arid landscape--with lakes as a chain of connection to previous pluvial states. I first came to Paruku 34 years ago and recall the nascent wiltjas (bough shelters) with small groups of largely elderly people who were re-settling their desert homelands from townships like Halls Creek, having been edged off pastoral regimes due to the new awards. They were re-connecting to old camping places, Dreaming sites and a range of totemic 'runs', rather than being wrapped around the rhythms of mustering and the earlier cattle drives of the nearby Canning Stock Route. They now had green-fields for (re)connection and establishment of community (such as Mulan). Jump ahead almost 30 years and as the last part of the ARC Canning Stock Route 'Rock Art and Jukurrpa Project' we are collaborating with Professor Jim Bowler, a new generation of senior Traditional Owners, and other colleagues in tracking the Two Dogs Dreaming, human occupation patterns and acrylic iconography from Tjurabalan native title holders--all in the sands and exposures of Parnkupirti Creek. With Mike Smith, Jo McDonald, Alan Williams and some 20 traditional custodians and (it felt like) hundreds of visiting school children, we worked back through the unyielding lake muds to locate early artefacts which have been dated to between 45,000 to 50,000 years ago. This was a time period when the energy from floodwaters was very high; large cobbles were pushed across the landscape during flood events and it appears early assemblages of flaked silcrete artefacts were polished and sub-rounded to then lie exposed for millennia in brachiating creeklines fringing the lake. This lavish CSIRO publication profiles community voices, art productions and intersections with science over some 300 pages. The four editors comprise a leading arid zone ecologist, two artists of natural-cultural systems and the deserts, and an anthropologist of Indigenous art. The book is divided into three chronological parts; (a) Deep Time, (b) Recent Times and (c) The Future. There are ten chapters embedded within these parts and they deal with the stratigraphy of archaeology and geomorphology, the historical connections and layered memories of custodians and the lake, its fluctuating freshwater ecology, and the painting of new landscapes of encounter and enterprise --not the least of which is the Indigenous Protected Area regime. …

Relevance Vector Machine Models of Suspended Fine Sediment Transport in a Shallow Lake—I: Data Collection

Mud Lake is part of a wildlife refuge located in southeastern Idaho and is operated by a power company to maximize power consumption, while providing for delivery of irrigation flows. Mud Lake is used as a sediment trap for the water flowing from the Bear River into the adjacent Bear Lake. This study explores the use of multivariable relevance vector machine (MVRVM) modeling to predict suspended fine sediment and other water quality constituent concentrations, and their spatial and temporal distribution. In this article, the first of two, we describe an experimental design and data collection program for the observations of water quality constituent data and hydraulic parameters to support creation of the MVRVM model. We briefly describe the MVRVM modeling approach, describe the development of the experimental program and the resulting observations, and finally discuss the suitability of the data to modeling with the MVRVM. Details of the MVRVM model and its application are provided in a second article. Success of the MVRVM will confirm the ability of statistical learning tools to predict sediment concentrations, and will lead the way for scientists to expand the use of the MVRVM for modeling of suspended fine sediment and water quality in other complex natural systems.

Evidence for Storegga tsunami run‐up at the head of Nordfjord, western Norway

ABSTRACTNumerical simulations show that the Storegga tsunami (∼8 150 cal a BP) penetrated into fjords and sounds along the Norwegian coast because of its large wavelengths of about 600–800 km. Despite this, deposits from the tsunami have not previously been reported from the innermost fjord district, probably because suitable sedimentary archives are lacking in the steep fjord landscape. Here we describe a persistent and well‐defined depositional unit, up to 3 m thick, found in a lake sequence at the head of the 106‐km‐long Nordfjord, which we interpret as a deposit from the Storegga tsunami. The unit is identified and mapped in seismic profiles as a continuous semi‐transparent unit which in places cut deeply into the underlying strata. In sediment cores the unit consists of grey silt with sub‐units containing shell or plant fragments, gravel and sand clasts, and redeposited lake mud. Radiocarbon ages date the deposit to the time of the Storegga tsunami (∼8 150 cal a BP). We estimate a minimum run‐up of 1–7.5 m for the tsunami based on the inferred elevation of the lake outlet relative to sea level at that time. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mars rover's search for signs of life may come up dry

Scientists say lake muds unlikely to have created mountain at the heart of Curiosity's mission.

No Lake Mud for Curiosity Rover to Investigate?

Gale crater's central mound seemed irresistible, offering the prospect of analyzing ancient lake sediments and posing as the ideal place to find remains of any early martian life. But at the meeting, a pair of researchers put a damper on those hopes.

Investigation of proposed Norse irrigation channels and dams at Garðar/Igaliku, Greenland

It has long been proposed that various features within and beyond the confines of the Greenlandic settlement of Garðar, in modern Igaliku, reflect a medieval irrigation system with interconnected channels and cascading dams associated with Norse colonization and agriculture. These have rarely been investigated archaeologically or sedimentologically. After reviewing available evidence and the confusion surrounding terminology, this paper reports on excavations across three supposed irrigation channels. The lithostratigraphies of sediments located behind some of the proposed dams are also described and discussed. Although one of the excavated channels demonstrates convincing evidence for having been constructed (in part at least, through the presence of a vertical cut and the emplacement of flanking turf embankments), two of the channels are revealed as natural topographic features. It seems that if these were integrated into the Norse irrigation network then this was done without any further requirement for their modification or artificial enhancement. Deposits behind the dams were found to be shallow (~0.5 m deep) but contained sedimentary evidence for the former presence of standing water or waterlogged ground in the form of lake muds and peats. At one location (designated as Dam IX), radiocarbon dating of a stratigraphic change from lake mud to peat—indicating succession from open water to more terrestrial conditions—has been dated to cal. AD 1420–1620 [2σ] and may reflect the reservoir falling into disuse following site abandonment. While doubt is thrown on the existence of one dam identified by previous investigators, two possible new dam/reservoir features are presented.

The environmental conditions of the Kavkazskie Mineralnye Vody (Caucasian Mineral Waters) health resort region, methods for their monitoring and improvement

This paper describes the unique environmental conditions of the Kavkazskie Mineralnye Vody (Caucasian Mineral Waters) health resort region with special reference to its paramount importance for the national interests of Russia. It is emphasized, however, that the environmental conditions in the region under consideration are far from being satisfactory. In connection with this, the authors point out to the necessity of expanding areas of protective forest stands and prohibition of the implementation of new building projects in the frontal mountain sanitary zones; they draw special attention to the potential danger of degradation of mineral water springs under the influence of changes in the distribution of vertical hydraulic gradients in the upper part of the lithosphere leading to the deterioration of their composition and the contamination of ground and surface waters with municipal and domestic effluents. Special attention is given to the harm and impermissibility of illegal extraction of mineral waters from producing wells. An original method for water quality control and estimation of the optimal production rate is proposed. The authors hypothesize the possible causes behind the discontinuation of mud formation at the Tambukan deposits and substantiate the necessity of using the resource-saving technologies for processing raw materials and urgent measures to eliminate the factors responsible for desalination and pollution of this mineral mud lake. It is concluded that strict state control should be exercised in the region by means of the introduction of the multilevel automated information system for round-the-clock environmental monitoring. The authors believe that only joint efforts of scientists, legislative and executive authorities can preserve Kavkazskie Mineralnye Vody health resort region for the future generations.

The existence and diversity of myxobacteria in lake mud – a previously unexplored myxobacteria habitat

Myxobacteria are widely distributed in soil and oceanic sediment with a phylogeographic separation at high levels of classification. However, it is unclear whether freshwater environments, from which there has been no isolation report of myxobacteria since 1981, are habitats for myxobacteria. In this study, we investigated the presence of myxobacteria in lake mud using a two-step strategy. First, we constructed two universal bacterial libraries from the V3-V4 (V34) and V6-V8 (V678) hypervariable regions of 16S rRNA gene sequences. High-throughput 454 pyrosequencing revealed that myxobacteria were one of the major bacterial groups in the lake mud. They accounted for 5.77% of the total sequences and 7.52% of the total operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at a phylogenetic distance of 0.03. The community composition and taxonomic structure of the mud myxobacterial community were further analysed using myxobacteria-enriched libraries targeting the V34 and V678 regions, which were amplified with Cystobacterineae- and Sorangineae-specific primer pairs respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the limnetic myxobacteria exhibited closer relationships to their soil than their marine relatives, but there were also exclusive taxa of limnetic myxobacteria detected. These results, together with a survey on available GenBank data, indicate that lake mud is a primary habitat for myxobacteria.

Occurrence of Schistocephalus solidus in Anadromous Threespine Stickleback

Plerocercoids of the cestode Schistocephalus solidus are reported for the first time from the body cavity of anadromous threespine stickleback inhabiting Mud Lake, Alaska. Most infected stickleback harbored a single large plerocerciod (mean weight = 0.447 g, range = 0.228-0.716 g). The overall prevalence of plerocercoids across genders and 2 yr of samples was 1.4%, but prevalence was significantly greater in males than in females. Because of the large size of the plerocercoids, anadromous stickleback were probably infected as juveniles before leaving the lake, suggesting that plerocercoids can live in the body cavity of oceanic stickleback for several years.

Propagation of the Storegga tsunami into ice‐free lakes along the southern shores of the Barents Sea

AbstractDeposits in coastal lakes in northernmost Norway reveal that the Storegga tsunami propagated well into the Barents Sea ca. 8100–8200 years ago. A tsunami deposit – found in cores from five coastal lakes located near the North Cape in Finnmark – rests on an erosional unconformity and consists of graded sand layers and re‐deposited organic remains. Rip‐up clasts of lake mud, peat and soil suggest strong erosion of the lake floor and neighbouring land. Inundation reached at least 500 m inland and minimum vertical run‐up has been reconstructed to 3–4 m. In this part of the Arctic coastal lakes are usually covered by >1 m of solid lake ice in winter. The significant erosion and deposition of rip‐up clasts indicate that the lakes were ice free and that the ground was probably not frozen. We suggest that the Storegga slide and ensuing tsunami happened sometime in the summer season, between April and October. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Alkyl amides in two organic-rich anoxic sediments: A possible new abiotic route for N sequestration

Fixed nitrogen (N) plays an integral role in global cycling; while most is recycled to refuel primary productivity, a small fraction escapes to be preserved and stabilised in sediments. Despite decades of research, the functionality and reactivity of this sequestered organic N has been poorly understood. This study was undertaken to shed light on this problem by characterising the bulk sediment organic matter using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), followed by molecular level analysis using ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT–ICR–MS). We studied two organic-rich anaerobic sediments, one from a freshwater system and another from a marine paralic basin. Mangrove Lake, Bermuda (marine) and Mud Lake, Florida (freshwater) have been shown in past studies to contain high levels of N-containing organic matter. Our resulting multidimensional NMR data suggests the existence of a new type of amide functionality in both these lake sediments, and we investigated this further using FT–ICR–MS and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS). FT–ICR–MS confirmed the existence of homologous series of CHNO containing compounds, whose structures are verified using GC–MS as alkyl amides. Model reactions involving naturally occurring esters and ammonia suggest the source of alkyl amides to be amidation of esters with sedimentary ammonia derived from anaerobic degradation of organic matter. This expands upon previous hypotheses for preservation of amide containing compounds that call upon biological/abiological protection of proteins and peptides or the formation of refractory nitrogenous adducts.

Solidification Properties of Dredged Materials Stabilized with Waste Plasterboard Powder and Reinforcement Effect Brought by Wrapping the Mixtures in Geotextile

Though the sediments dredged from floors of lakes and ports are beneficial earth materials, the utilization is still stagnant due to continuing restraint of construction investment. On the one hand, plasterboard wastes occurring abundantly with the renovation and demolition works of building are recently bringing the stringency of a residual capacity at controlled type landfill site. In the present study, we have investigated the California bearing ratio (hereinafter referred to as “CBR”), unconfined compressive strength, resilient modulus and constant pressure shear strength after having stabilized the base material which was composed of lake mud, sea sand and waste plasterboard powder with equivalent quantities in dry mass. According to the results obtained from CBR-test and unconfined compression test, the mixing of a waste plasterboard powder reduced apparent water content in base material, and as an effect by this, the hardening progress with the passage of time certainly exceeded a difference of the stabilizer amount added. Successively, having examined the resilient moduli concerning mixtures with a material age of 28days, it was found that these values were equal to or greater than the existing granular base course materials. Secondly, we have examined relation between shearing stress and displacement for specimens (a diameter of 100mm and a height of 50mm) which were made by wrapping the stabilized base material in geotextile and have compared the strength parameter to specimens without covering. As a consequence, it was ascertained that the angle of shear resistance in specimens with geotextile became 10 to 25degrees larger than that in specimens without covering and that meanwhile the cohesion generally tended to become largish in the latter.