Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The controls on phosphorus availability in a Boreal lake ecosystem since deglaciation

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Journal of Paleolimnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The sediment record from a 5.3-m core from Sargent Mountain Pond, Maine USA indicates strong co-evolutionary relationships among climate, vegetation, soil development, runoff chemistry, lake processes, diatom community, and water and sediment chemistry. Early post-glacial time (16,600–12,500 Cal Yr BP) was dominated by deposition of mineral-rich sediment, low in organic matter and secondary hydroxides of Al and Fe; pollen indicate tundra conditions; diatom taxa indicate pH between 7.5 and 8, and total P concentrations of about 25 μg L−1, favoring higher productivity. Chemical weathering was rapid, with high alkalinity, pH, Ca, and P in runoff. As climate ameliorated, about 12,500 Cal Yr BP, forest vegetation became established; soils would have developed vertical zonation, including organic matter accumulation, and incipient podzolic horizons, with accumulating secondary hydroxides of Al and Fe that sequestered P in the soils. Labile minerals (primarily apatite, Ca5(PO4)3(OH,F,Cl)) became depleted in the soil, further reducing the supply of P to the lake. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from soil organic matter mobilized Al and Fe to the lake where Al(OH)3 (primarily) and Fe(OH)3 (minor) were precipitated. The sedimenting hydroxides adsorbed P from the water column, further reducing bioavailable P. These long-term trends of moderating climate, and changing terrestrial biology, soils, and aquatic chemistry and phytoplankton were interrupted by the 1,000-year long Younger Dryas cooling, which led to a temporary reversal of these processes, a period that ended with the major onset of Holocene warming. The sequestration of P by soils would have strengthened because of long-term soil acidification and pedogenesis. The lake was transformed from a more productive, high P, high pH, low DOC system into an oligotrophic, relatively low P, acidic, humic lake over a period of 16,600 years, a natural trend that continues. In contrast to many human-affected lakes that become increasingly eutrophic, many lakes become more oligotrophic during their history. The precursors for that are: (1) absence of human land-use in watersheds, (2) bedrock lithology and soil with a paucity of soluble Ca-rich minerals, and (3) vegetation that promotes the accumulation of soil organic matter, podzolization, and increased export of metal-DOC complexes, particularly Al.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Birks HJB (1995) Quantitative paleoenvironmental reconstructions. In: Maddy D, Brew JS (eds) Statistical modeling of quaternary science data. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 161–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Birks HH, Birks HJB (2006) Multi-proxy studies in palaeolimnology. Veget Hist Archaeobot 15:235–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaauw M (2010) Methods and code for ‘classical’ age-modelling of radiocarbon sequences. Quat Geochron 5:512–518

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaauw M, Christen JA (2005) Radiocarbon peat chronologies and environmental change. Appl Statist 54:805–816

    Google Scholar 

  • Borns HW Jr, Doner LA, Dorion CC, Jacobson GL Jr, Kaplan MR, Kreutz KJ, Lowell TV, Thompson W, Weddle TK (2004) The deglaciation of Maine, USA. In: Ehlers J, Gibbard PL (eds) Quaternary glaciations—extent and chronology, part II: North America. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 89–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle JF (2007a) Loss of apatite caused irreversible early Holocene lake acidification. Holocene 17:539–544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyle JF (2007b) Simulating loss of primary silicate minerals from soil due to long-term weathering using ALLOGEN: comparison with soil chronosequence, lake sediment and river solute flux data. Geomorph 83:121–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camburn KE, Charles DF (2000) Diatoms of low-alkalinity lakes in the northeastern United States. Acad Natl Sci Phila Spec Publ 18

  • Chapin FS, Wlaker LR, Fastie CL, Sharman LC (1994) Mechanisms of primary succession following deglaciation at Glacier Bay, Alaska. Ecol Mon 64:149–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper WS (1923a) The recent ecological history of Glacier Bay, Alaska: I. The interglacial forests of Glacier Bay. Ecol 4:93–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper WS (1923b) The recent ecological history of Glacier Bay, Alaska: II. The present vegetation cycle. Ecol 4:223–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crocker RL, Major J (1955) Soil development in relation to vegetation and surface age at Glacier Bay, Alaska. J Ecol 43:427–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis RB, Jacobson GL Jr (1985) Late-glacial and early post-glacial landscapes in northern New England and adjacent Canadian regions. Quat Res 23:341–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Vincente I, Huang P, Andersen FØ, Jensen HS (2008) Phosphate adsorption by fresh and aged aluminum hydroxide. Consequences for lake restoration. Environ Sci Technol 42:6650–6655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denton GH, Hughes TJ (1981) The last great ice sheets. Wiley Interscience, New York, p 484

    Google Scholar 

  • Engstrom DR, Fritz SC (2004) Coupling between primary terrestrial succession and the trophic development of lakes at Glacier Bay, Alaska. J Paleolim 35:873–880

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engstrom DR, Wright HE Jr (1984) Chemical stratigraphy of lake sediments as a record of environmental change. In: Haworth EY, Lund JWG (eds) Lake Sediments and Environmental History. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp 11–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Engstrom DR, Fritz SC, Almendinger JE, Juggins S (2000) Chemical and biological trends during lake evolution in recently deglaciated terrain. Nature 408:161–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fægri K, Iversen J, Kaland PE, Krzywinski K (1989) Textbook of pollen analysis. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Fastie CL (1995) Causes and ecosystem consequences of multiple pathways of primary succession at Glacier Bay, Alaska. Ecol 76:1899–1916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritz SC, Engstrom DR, Juggins S (2004) Patterns of early lake evolution in boreal landscapes: a comparison of stratigraphic inferences with a modern chronosequence in Glacier Bay, Alaska. The Holocene 14:828–840

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford MSJ (1990) A 10, 000-Yr history of natural ecosystem acidification. Ecol Mon 60:57–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilman RA, Chapman CA, Lowell TV, Borns HW Jr (1988) The geology of Mount Desert Island: Maine. Geol Survey Bull 38:50

    Google Scholar 

  • Ginn BK, Cumming BF, Smol JP (2007) Diatom-based environmental inferences and model comparisons from 494 northeastern North American lakes. J Phycol 43:647–661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guidry MW, MacKenzie FT (2003) Experimental study of igneous and sedimentary apatite dissolution: control of pH, distance from equilibrium, and temperature on dissolution rates. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 67:2949–2963

    Google Scholar 

  • Hieltjes AHM, Lijklema L (1980) Fractionation of inorganic phosphates in calcareous sediments. J Environ Qual 9:405–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson GL Jr, Birks HJB (1980) Soil development on recent end moraines of the Klutan Glacier, Yukon Territory, Canada. Quat Res 14:87–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson GL Jr, Bradshaw RHW (1981) The selection of sites for paleovegetational studies. Quat Res 16:80–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson GL Jr, Webb T III, Grimm EC (1987) Patterns and rates of vegetation change during the deglaciation of eastern North America. In: Ruddiman WF, Wright HE Jr (eds) North America during deglaciation. The geology of North America, DNAG v. K3. Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp 277–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Kopáček J, Borovec J, Hejzlar J, Ulrich K-U, Norton SA, Amirbahman A (2005) Aluminum control of phosphorus sorption by lake sediments. Environ Sci Tech 39:8784–8789

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kopáček J, Marešová M, Norton SA, Porcal P, Veselý J (2006) Photochemical source of metals for sediments. Environ Sci Tech 40:4455–4459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kopáček J, Marešová M, Hejzlar J, Norton SA (2007) Natural inactivation of phosphorus by aluminum in pre-industrial lake sediments. Limnol Oceanogr 52:1147–1155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kopáček J, Hejzlar J, Kaňa J, Norton SA, Porcal P, Turek J (2009) Trends in aluminium export from a glaciated mountain area to surface waters: Effects of soil development, atmospheric acidification, and nitrogen-saturation. J Inorg Biochem 103:1439–1448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H (1986–1991) Susswasserflora von Mitteleuropa. Bacilloriophyceae, Vol I–IV. Stuttgart Gustav Fischer Verlag

  • Lindbladh M, Jacobson GL Jr, Schauffler M (2003) The postglacial history of three Picea species in New England, USA. Quat Res 59:61–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowell TV (1980) Late Wisconsin ice extent in Maine: evidence from Mount Desert Island and the Saint John River area. Unpub. M.Sc. Thesis, University of Maine

  • Lundström US, van Breeman N, Bain D (2000) The podzolization process. A review. Geoderma 94:91–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monteith DT, Stoddard JL, Evans CD, de Wit HA, Forsius M, Høgasen T et al (2007) Dissolved organic carbon trends resulting from changes in atmospheric deposition chemistry. Nature 450:537–540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortimer CH (1941) The exchange of dissolved substances between mud and water in lakes. J Ecol 29:280–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy J, Riley JP (1962) A modified single solution method for determination of phosphate in natural waters. Anal Chim Acta 27:31–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Navrátil T, Rohovec J, Amirbahman A, Norton SA, Fernandez IJ (2009) Controls of natural amorphous aluminum hydroxide on sulfate and phosphate anions in sediment-solution systems. Water Air Soil Poll 201:87–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nodvin SC, Driscoll CT, Likens GE (1986) The effect of pH on sulfate adsorption by a forest soil. Soil Sci 142:69–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norton SA, Wilson T, Handle M, Osterberg EC (2007) Atmospheric deposition of cadmium in the northeastern USA. App Geochem 22:1217–1222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norton SA, Coolidge K, Amirbahman A, Kopáček J, Bouchard RJ (2008) Speciation of Al, Fe, and P in recent sediment of three Maine lakes, USA. Sci Tot Environ 404:276–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norton SA, Perry RH, Saros J, Jacobson GL Jr, Fernandez IJ, Kopáček J, SanClements M, Wilson TA, Pierret-Neboit MC, Lesser DF (2010) Early post-glacial and Holocene history of the Sargent Mountain Pond watershed, as seen from the bottom of Sargent Mountain Pond, Acadia National Park, Maine: New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference, Orono, Maine. pp A4-1–A4-16

  • Osberg PH, Hussey AM, Boone GM (1985) Bedrock geologic map of Maine. 1:250,000. Department of Conservation, Maine Geological Survey

  • Psenner R, Boström B, Dinka M, Petterson K, Pucsko R, Sager M (1988) Fractionation of phosphorus in suspended matter and sediment. Arch Hydrobiol, Beih Ergebn Limnol 30:98–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Renberg I (1990) A 12, 600 year perspective of the acidification of Lilla Öresjön, southwest Sweden. Phil Trans Roy Soc London B327:357–361

    Google Scholar 

  • SanClements MD, Fernandez IJ, Norton SA (2009) Soil and sediment phosphorus fractions in a forested watershed at Acadia national Park, ME, USA. For Ecol Manag 258:2318–2325

    Google Scholar 

  • Schauffler M, Jacobson GL Jr (2002) Persistence of coastal spruce refugia during the Holocene in northern New England, USA, detected by stand-scale pollen stratigraphies. J Ecol 90:235–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schott J, Berner RA, Sjöberg EL (1981) Mechanism of pyroxene and amphibole weathering–I. Experimental studies of iron-free minerals. Geochim Cosmoch Acta 45:2123–2135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stuiver M, Reimer PJ (1993) Extended 14C data base and revised CALIB 3.0 14C age calibration program. Radiocarbon 35:215–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson WB, Borns HW Jr. (1985) Surficial Geologic Map of Maine. 1:250,000. Department of Conservation. Maine Geological Survey

  • Whitehead DR, Rochester H Jr, Rissing SW, Douglass CB, Sheehan MC (1973) Late glacial and postglacial productivity changes in a New England pond. Science 181:744–747

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead D, Charles DF, Jackson ST, Reed SE, Sheehan MC (1986) Late-glacial and holocene acidity changes in Adirondack (NY) lakes. In: Battarbee RW, Davis RB, Merilainen J, Smol JP (eds) Diatoms and lake acidity. Dr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 251–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson TA, Norton SA, Lake B, Amirbahman A (2008) Sediment geochemistry of Al, Fe, and P for two oligotrophic Maine lakes during a period of acidification and recovery. Sci Tot Environ 404:269–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson TA, Amirbahman A, Norton SA, Voytek MA (2010) Sedimentary phosphorus dynamics in oligotrophic lakes. J Paleolimn 44:279–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright HE Jr (1991) Coring tips. J Paleolim 6:37–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Our research was supported by National Science Foundation grants DEB-0415348 and DEB-0414144 to Norton and Fernandez, respectively, and by a gift from Nestlé Waters of North America to Norton. We greatly appreciate the support of staff at Acadia National Park. John Cangelosi, Ben Gross, David Huntress, and Cindy Loften assisted in coring. Processing of the core at the University of Maine was by Andrea Nurse, Robert Harrington, and Samuel Roy. Bekka Brodie provided excellent analytical capabilities. We thank Brian Ginn for applying the pH and total phosphorus models to our fossil diatom data. Richard Bindler kindly provided us with output from the CLAM chronology model (Blaauw 2010). We appreciate the thoughtful, thorough, and constructive reviews of John A. Boyle and one anonymous reviewer, who patiently offered excellent advice on two iterations. Their suggestions substantially improved the clarity of our presentation, and allowed us to correct errors and sharpen the science.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469-5790, USA

    Stephen A. Norton & Randall H. Perry

  2. School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA

    Jasmine E. Saros & George L. Jacobson Jr.

  3. Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA

    Stephen A. Norton, Jasmine E. Saros, George L. Jacobson Jr., Ivan J. Fernandez & Tiffany A. Wilson

  4. Department of Plant, Soil, and Environmental Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA

    Ivan J. Fernandez

  5. Biology Centre ASCR, Institute of Hydrobiology, České Budějovice, 37005, Czech Republic

    Jiří Kopáček

  6. Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA

    Michael D. SanClements

Authors
  1. Stephen A. Norton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Randall H. Perry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jasmine E. Saros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. George L. Jacobson Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ivan J. Fernandez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jiří Kopáček
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Tiffany A. Wilson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Michael D. SanClements
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephen A. Norton.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 336 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Norton, S.A., Perry, R.H., Saros, J.E. et al. The controls on phosphorus availability in a Boreal lake ecosystem since deglaciation. J Paleolimnol 46, 107–122 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-011-9526-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-011-9526-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation