Abstract
The palaeoenvironment of a former coastal lagoon in the south eastern Iberian Peninsula (San Rafael, Almeria, Spain) were inferred from one core analyzed for particulate organic matter content (POM) together with its C/N, δ13C, δ15N to depict the biogeochemical record from the Late Glacial to the Holocene. The results, complemented by previously reported pollen assemblages, indicate the appearance of a freshwater lagoon at 7300 b.p. (uncalibrated 14C age), its salinization at 6200 b.p. and its disappearance at 4400 b.p. The period of existence of the lagoon coincided with a period of wetter conditions as inferred from terrestrial vegetation. The lagoon’s salinization was not related to a decrease in precipitation but to a stronger maritime influence since there were no parallel changes in terrestrial vegetation. Salinization caused an increase in δ13C, associated with a higher relative presence of C4 plants, and an increase in δ15N, due to a decrease in plant N demand. The late period of the lagoon, from about 5100 to 4400 b.p., shows a progressive drying and salinization not detected in isotopes but reflected in a decrease in POM, and in the pollen records. Increases in δ15N were related to increases in salinity within the lagoon, and are indicative of a more open N cycle, because the absence of changes in terrestrial vegetation rules out changes in the catchment area as the cause for changes in δ15N.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Spanish Government projects REN2003-04871/GLO and CGL2004-01402/BOS, the Catalan Government project SGR 2005-00312, the European projects ALARM (Contract 506675) and NUE (Contract 017841), and a Fundación BBVA 2004 grant. Marc Estiarte acknowledges support from Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Ramon y Cajal contract). We acknowledge D. Simpson’s help with seeds.
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Communicated by J.-L. de Beaulieu.
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Estiarte, M., Peñuelas, J., López-Martínez, C. et al. Holocene palaeoenvironment in a former coastal lagoon of the arid south eastern Iberian Peninsula: salinization effects on δ15N. Veget Hist Archaeobot 17, 667–674 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-008-0153-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-008-0153-y