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Using variations in the stable carbon isotope composition of macrophyte remains to quantify nutrient dynamics in lakes

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Abstract

The apparent isotope enrichment factor εmacrophyte of submerged plants (εmacrophyte–DIC = δ13Cmacrophyte − δ13CDIC) is indicative of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) supply in neutral to alkaline waters and is related to variations in aquatic productivity (Papadimitriou et al. in Limnol Oceanogr 50:1084–1095, 2005). This paper aims to evaluate the usage of εmacrophyte inferred from isotopic analyses of submerged plant fossils in addition to analyses of lake carbonate as a palaeolimnological proxy for former HCO3 − concentrations. Stable carbon isotopic analysis of modern Potamogeton pectinatus leaves and its host water DIC from the Tibetan Plateau and Central Yakutia (Russia) yielded values between −23.3 and +0.4‰ and between +14.0 and +6.5‰, respectively. Values of εPotamogeton–DIC (range −15.4 to +1.1‰) from these lakes are significantly correlated with host water HCO3 − concentration (range 78–2,200 mg/l) (r = −0.86; P < 0.001), thus allowing for the development of a transfer function. Palaeo-εPotamogeton–ostracods values from Luanhaizi Lake on the NE Tibetan Plateau, as inferred from the stable carbon isotope measurement of fossil Potamogeton pectinatus seeds (range −24 to +2.8‰) and ostracods (range −7.8 to +7.5%) range between −14.8 and 1.6‰. Phases of assumed disequilibrium between δ13CDIC and δ13Costracods known to occur in charophyte swards (as indicated by the deposition of charophyte fossils) were excluded from the analysis of palaeo-ε. The application of the εPotamogeton–DIC-HCO3 − transfer function yielded a median palaeo-HCO3 − -concentration of 290 mg/l. Variations in the dissolved organic carbon supply compare well with aquatic plant productivity changes and lake level variability as inferred from a multiproxy study of the same record including analyses of plant macrofossils, ostracods, carbonate and organic content.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to H.J.B. Birks and to two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and corrections. Furthermore, we are thankful to Katy Wilson who helped us with language correction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association, Research Unit Potsdam, Telegraphenberg A43, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Ulrike Herzschuh & Hanno Meyer

  2. Department of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Ulrike Herzschuh

  3. Institute of Geological Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Steffen Mischke

  4. Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), Bremerhaven, Germany

    Birgit Plessen

  5. Center of Arid Environment and Palaeoclimate Research, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

    Chengjun Zhang

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  1. Ulrike Herzschuh
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  4. Birgit Plessen
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  5. Chengjun Zhang
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Correspondence to Ulrike Herzschuh.

Electronic supplementary material

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10933_2009_9365_MOESM1_ESM.xls

Information on 68 studied sites on the eastern Tibetan Plateau (No. 1–56) and Central Yakutia (No. 57–68) in terms of location, lake depth and physical and chemical water properties (pH, alkalinity, ion activity). Furthermore, results on δ13CDIC, δ13Costracods, δ13C Potamogeton of leaf, δ13C seed of Potamogeton pectinatus seeds and apparent isotope enrichment factor εPotamogeton-DIC are provided. (XLS 33 kb)

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Herzschuh, U., Mischke, S., Meyer, H. et al. Using variations in the stable carbon isotope composition of macrophyte remains to quantify nutrient dynamics in lakes. J Paleolimnol 43, 739–750 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-009-9365-0

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