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Diatom-inferred palaeoenvironmental changes of a Pliocene lake disturbed by volcanic activity

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Abstract

Lake development in geologically active basins is a complex phenomenon as shown by the bed of the Pliocene Tlaxcala paleolake disturbed by volcanic eruptions in central Mexico. A 5-m layered freshwater diatomite outcrop section shows volcanic ashes throughout a bottom Stephanodiscus zone up to a more recent Aulacoseira zone. A 0.5-m transition region begins with an abrupt decrease in volcanic inputs and ends with a shift to Aulacoseira solida (Eulenstein) Krammer. Sediment analysis points to a shallow eutrophic lake in the bottom zone undergoing a transition to higher water volume leading to a threshold depth for the species shift. The lake was apparently deeper and mesotrophic thereafter. A common interpretation is to attribute such a volume change to a moisture increase. However, evidence of geological activity, mainly volcanism and faulting, suggests that it could have also been rooted in geomorphological changes of the lake basin.

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Acknowledgments

We thank CONACyT-34512E, ECOS-ANUIES-M04-M01, and DGAPA-UNAM-IN116198 grants. E.U. and G. M.-M. thank the CPT-CNRS Luminy hospitality. Field work and some attempts for dating measurements were done with the aid of Jesús Solé-Viñas Peter Schaaf, Ángel Pérez and Teodoro Hernández. Martha Gaytan assisted with laboratory analyses. Gilberto Silva and Claudia Mendoza contributed with map figures. SEM facilities were given by Serveis Cientifico-Tecnics, Universitat de Barcelona. CT scanner was provided by Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Mexico City. Tom Whitmore and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful corrections to the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Limnología Tropical, UIICSE, División de Investigación y Posgrado, FES-Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. de los Barrios # 1, Los Reyes Iztacala, 54090, Tlalnepantla, México

    G. Vilaclara & E. Cuna

  2. Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apdo.Postal 48-3, 62251, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México

    G. Martinez-Mekler

  3. Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Coyoacán, México City, México

    G. Martinez-Mekler

  4. Posgrado de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Coyoacán, México City, México

    E. Cuna

  5. Instituto de Física, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Alvaro Obregón 64, 7800, San Luis Potosí, SLP, México

    E. Ugalde

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  1. G. Vilaclara
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Correspondence to G. Vilaclara.

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Vilaclara, G., Martinez-Mekler, G., Cuna, E. et al. Diatom-inferred palaeoenvironmental changes of a Pliocene lake disturbed by volcanic activity. J Paleolimnol 44, 203–215 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-009-9397-5

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