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Evaluating environmental drivers of Holocene changes in water chemistry and aquatic biota composition at Lake Loitsana, NE Finland

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An Erratum to this article was published on 28 December 2014

Abstract

This study presents a detailed analysis of geochemical and biotic proxies in a lake sediment profile to assess the effects of local and regional environmental drivers on the Holocene development of Lake Loitsana, situated in the northern boreal forest of NE Finland. Multi-proxy studies, in particular those that include a detailed plant macrofossil record, from the part of the northern boreal zone of Fennoscandia which has not been affected by treeline fluctuations, are scarce and few of these records date back to the earliest part of the Holocene. A 9-m sediment sequence of gyttja overlying silts representing the last c. 10,700 cal year, allowed for a high-resolution study with emphasis on the early to mid-Holocene lake history. The lacustrine sediments were studied using lithology, loss-on-ignition and C/N ratios, micro- and macro-fossils of aquatic and wetland taxa, diatoms, chironomids and accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating on terrestrial plant macrofossils. Our study shows that the local development at Loitsana was complex and included a distinct glacial lake phase and subsequent drainage, a history of fluvial input affected by nearby wetland expansion, and lake infilling in an eventual esker-fed shallow lake. Enhanced trophic conditions, due to morphometric eutrophication, are recorded as Glacial Lake Sokli drained and open water conditions became restricted to a relatively small Lake Loitsana depression. pH appears to have been stable throughout the Holocene with a well-buffered lake due to the local carbonatite bedrock (Sokli Carbonatite Massif). The fossil assemblage changes are best explained by a complex mixture of drivers, including water-body conditions (i.e. depth, turbidity and turbulence), rate of sediment input, and the general infilling of the lake, highlighting the need to carefully evaluate the possible influence of such local factors as palaeoenvironmental conditions are reconstructed based on aquatic proxies.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company. The coring operation at Lake Loitsana was funded by Bolin Centre for Climate Research (Stockholm University). Martin Margold, Jan Risberg, Päivi Kaislahti Tillman (Stockholm University) and Liselott Wilin are acknowledged for their support during fieldwork. Financial support for radiocarbon dating was granted to Shyhrete Shala by the Carl Mannerfelt Foundation and Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography. INTIMATE COST Action is acknowledged for funding a Short Term Scientific Mission to the University of Helsinki. Tomi P. Luoto received funding from the Academy of Finland (ILMAVEIVI Project, Grant No. 250343). Minna Väliranta received funding from CLICHE project (Academy of Finland, Grant No. 1140900). Special thanks to Alistair G. Auffret for editing the language.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Shyhrete Shala, Karin F. Helmens & Peter Kuhry

  2. Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Tomi P. Luoto & J. Sakari Salonen

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, Viikinkaari 1, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Minna Väliranta & Jan Weckström

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  1. Shyhrete Shala
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Correspondence to Shyhrete Shala.

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Shala, S., Helmens, K.F., Luoto, T.P. et al. Evaluating environmental drivers of Holocene changes in water chemistry and aquatic biota composition at Lake Loitsana, NE Finland. J Paleolimnol 52, 311–329 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-014-9795-1

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