Abstract
Diatom and chrysophyte assemblages from a sediment core from Whitepine Lake were examined to infer changes in lakewater pH, nickel and aluminum concentrations since pre-industrial times, and to help determine the cause of the virtual extirpation of the lake trout population from the lake during the 1960s and 1970s. Our study indicates that acidification started in the 1920s, and that the maximum inferred pH decline (from 6.2 to 5.8) occurred between 1960 and 1970, coincident with the peak in metal mining and smelting activity in the Sudbury basin. Lakewater [Al] and [Ni], as inferred from our diatom transfer functions, increased. It appears that in addition to the pH decline, elevated [Al] may have played an important role in the decline of lake trout from Whitepine Lake in the 1960s and 1970s. Diatom-inferred lakewater pH and [Ni] have recovered slightly in the recent sediments, which coincides with reductions in emissions that have occurred since the mid-1970s.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Asmund, B. & J. Kristiansen, 1986. The genusMallomonas (Chrysophyceae). A taxonomic survey based on the ultrastructure of silica scales and bristles. Opera Bot. 85: 1–128.
Baker, J. P. & C. L. Schofield, 1982. Aluminum toxicity to fish in acidic waters. Wat. Air Soil Pollut. 18: 289–309.
Baker, J. P., D. P. Bernard, S. W. Christensen & M. J. Sale, 1990. Biological effects of changes in surface water acid-base chemistry. State of Science/Technology Report 13, national Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, Washington, D.C.
Battarbee, R. W., 1973. A new method for the estimation of absolute microfossil numbers, with special reference to diatoms. Limnol. Oceanogr. 18: 647–653.
Beggs, G. L. & J. M. Gunn, 1986. Response of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and brook trout (S. fontinalis) to surface water acidification in Ontario. Wat. Air Soil Pollut. 30: 711–717.
Binford, M. W., 1990. Calculation and uncertainty analysis of210Pb data for PIRLA project lake sediment cores. J. Paleolimnol. 3: 253–267.
Camburn, K. E., J. C. Kingston & D. F. Charles, Ed. 1984–1986. PIRLA Diatom Iconograph. PIRLA Unpublished Report Series 3, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, U.S.A.
Cumming, B. F., J. P. Smol & H. J. Birks, 1992. Scaled chrysophytes (Chrysophyceae and Synurophyceae) from Adirondack drainage lakes and their relationship to environmental variables. J. Phycol. 28: 162–178.
Dickman, M. D. & S. S. Rao, 1989. Diatom stratigraphy in acid stressed lakes in the Netherlands, Canada and China. In:Acid Stress and Aquatic Microbial Interactions. p. 115–143. Rao, S. S. (ed.) CRC Press Inc., Boca Raton, Florida.
Dickman, M. D. & J. Fortescue, 1991. The role of lake deacidification as inferred from sediment core diatom stratigraphies. Ambio 20: 129–135.
Dillon, P. J., R. A. Reid & R. Girard, 1986. Changes in the chemistry of lakes near Sudbury, Ontario following reductions of SO2 emissions. Wat. Air Soil Pollut. 31: 59–65.
Dixit, S. S., A. S. Dixit & R. D. Evans, 1987. Paleolimnological evidence of recent acidification in two Sudbury (Canada) lakes. Sci. Total Environ. 67: 53–67.
Dixit, S. S., A. S. Dixit & J. P. Smol, 1989a. Relationship between chrysophyte assemblages and environmental variables in seventy-two Sudbury lakes as examined by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 46: 1667–1676.
Dixit, S. S., A. S. Dixit & J. P. Smol, 1989b. Lake acidification recovery can be monitored using chrysophycean microfossils. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 46: 1309–1312.
Dixit, S. S., A. S. Dixit & J. P. Smol, 1991. Multivariable environmental inferences based on diatom assemblages from Sudbury (Canada) lakes. Freshwater Biol. 26: 251–266.
Dixit, S. S., J. P. Smol, J. C. Kingston & D. F. Charles, 1992a. Diatoms: Powerful indicators of environmental change. Environ. Sci. Technol. 26: 23–33.
Dixit, A. S., S. S. Dixit & J. P. Smol, 1992b. Long-term trends in lakewater pH and metal concentrations in 3 Killarney Provincial Park lakes, near Sudbury, Ontario (Canada). Can. J. Fish aquat. Sci. 49: 17–24.
Gensemer, R. W., 1991. The effects of pH and aluminum on the growth of the acidophilic diatomAsterionella ralfsii v.americana. Limnol. Oceanogr. 36: 123–131.
Glew, J. R., 1988. A portable extruding device for close interval sectioning of unconsolidated core samples. J. Paleolim. 1: 235–239.
Gorham, E. & G. Gordon, 1960. The influence of smelter fumes upon the chemical composition of lake waters near Sudbury, Ontario, and upon the surrounding vegetation. Can. J. Bot. 38: 477–487.
Gunn, J. M. & W. Keller, 1984. Spawning site water chemistry and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) sac fry survival during spring snowmelt. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 41: 319–329.
Gunn, J. M. & W. Keller, 1990. Biological recovery of an acid lake after reductions in industrial emissions of sulphur. Nature 345: 431–433.
Keller, W., J. R. Pitblado & N. I. Conroy, 1986. Water quality improvements in the Sudbury, Ontario, Canada area related to reduced smelter emissions. Wat. Air Soil Pollut. 31: 774–775.
Keller, W., 1992. Introduction and overview to aquatic acidification studies in the Sudbury, Ontario, Canada area. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 49: 3–7.
Line, J. M. & H. J. B. Birks, 1990. WACALIB version 2.1 — a computer program to reconstruct environmental variables from fossil assemblages by weighted averaging. J. Paleolimnol. 3: 170–173.
Mills, K. H., S. M. Chalanchuk, L. C. Mohar & I. J. Davies, 1987. Responses of fish populations in Lake 223 to 8 years of experimental acidification. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 44: 114–125.
Nicholls, K. H., 1982.Mallomonas species (Chrysophyceae) from Ontario, Canada including description of two new species. Nova Hedwigia 36: 89–124.
Nriagu, J. O., H. K. T. Wong & R. D. Coker, 1982. Deposition and chemistry of pollutant metals in lakes around metal smelters at Sudbury, Ontario. Environ. Sci. Technol. 16: 551–560.
Pillsbury, R. W. & J. C. Kingston, 1990. The pH-independent effect of aluminum on cultures of phytoplankton from an acidic Wisconsin lake. Hydrobiologia 194: 225–233.
Polkinghorne, D. & J. Gunn, 1981. Sudbury district lake trout lakes — a description of the lakes and the changes produced by man. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
Siver, P. A., J. S. Hamer & H. Kling, 1990. Separation ofMallomonas duerrschmidtiae sp. nov. fromM. crassisquama andM. pseudocoronata: Implications for paleolimnological research. J. Phycol. 26: 728–740.
Smol, J. P., D. F. Charles & D. R. Whitehead, 1984. Mallomonadacean (Chrysophyceae) assemblages and their relationships with limnological characteristics in 38 Adirondack (N.Y.) lakes. Can. J. Bot. 62: 611–630.
Takahashi, E., 1978. Electron microscopical studies of the Synuraceae (Chrysophyceae) in Japan. Tokai University Press, Tokyo. 194 pp.
Wee, J. L., 1982. Studies on the Synurophyceae (Chrysophyceae) of Iowa. Bibl. Phycol. 62:1–183.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dixit, A.S., Dixit, S.S. & Smol, J.P. Acidification and metal contamination in Whitepine Lake (Sudbury, Canada): a paleolimnological perspective. J Paleolimnol 9, 141–146 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00677515
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00677515