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Environmental changes in northern New Zealand since the Middle Holocene inferred from stable isotope records (δ15N, δ13C) of Lake Pupuke

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Abstract

Maar lakes in the Auckland Volcanic Field are important high-resolution archives of Holocene environmental change in the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were applied on bulk organic matter and the green alga Botryococcus from a sediment core from Lake Pupuke (Auckland, North Island, New Zealand) spanning the period since 7,165 cal. year BP. The origin of organic matter was established using total-organic–carbon-to-nitrogen ratios (TOC/TN) as well as organic carbon (δ13COM) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope composition of potential modern sources. This approach demonstrated that the contribution of allochthonous organic matter to the lake sediment was negligible for most of the record. The sedimentary TOC/TN ratios that are higher than Redfield ratio (i.e. >7) are attributed to N-limiting conditions throughout the record. Variations of nitrogen and carbon isotopes during the last 7,165 years are interpreted as changes in the dominant processes in the lake. While epilimnetic primary productivity controlled isotope composition before 6,600 cal. year BP, microbial processes, especially denitrification and methane oxidation, caused overall shifts of the δ15N and δ13C values since the Mid-Holocene. Comparisons with climate reconstructions from the Northern Island suggest that changes in the wind-induced lake overturn and a shift to more pronounced seasonality were the most likely causes for lake-internal changes since 6,600 cal. year BP.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Gillian Turner and Jim Neale for coring, Markus Oehlerich and Laurentius Sauer for assistance in the isotope lab, Alexander Altenbach for discussions. Thomas Stephens, an anonymous reviewer and the editors Thomas Whitmore and Steffen Mischke provided useful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. Funding to AL and CM by the German Research Foundation (grant nos. MA 4235/1-1 and LU 786/5-1) is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Christoph Mayr

    Present address: Institute of Geography, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Kochstr. 4/4, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, GeoBio-Center, University of Munich, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333, Munich, Germany

    Alexander M. Heyng & Christoph Mayr

  2. Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-3: Agrosphere, Research Center Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany

    Andreas Lücke & Holger Wissel

  3. Geological Survey of Western Australia, Department of Mines and Petroleum, 100 Plain Street, East Perth, WA, 6004, Australia

    Bernd Striewski

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

    Stefan Wastegård

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Correspondence to Christoph Mayr.

Electronic supplementary material

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10933_2012_9606_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Lithostratigraphy and tephra layers of Lake Pupuke, sediment cores P2 [(a)-(e)] and P4 [(f)-(h)]: (a) lithozones; (b) lithology with main stratigraphic features and three macroscopically visible tephra beds (Rangitoto Tephra (Ro), Taupo Tephra (Tp), Tuhua Tephra (Tu) used to establish a chronostratigraphical framework for core P2. Core photographs of corresponding tephra layers in core P4 for comparison (Striewski et al. 2009). (TIFF 4471 kb)

10933_2012_9606_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Scanning electron photographs of sediment-samples and various components of OM, core Pupuke P2; A-E sample S1/131-132 (123 cm depth), F sample S1/94-95 (95 cm depth); for sizes see scale-bars. A. Almost pure monospecific diatom layer of Aulacoseira sp.. B. Detailed view of Aulacoseira sp. and Cyclotella sp. frustules. C. Monospecific layer of diatom frustules of an unidentified species). D. Detailed view of an unidentified chitinous fragment. E. Spherical diatom frustule (unidentified) with freshwater-sponge spicule. F. Chrysophycean cyst (TIFF 7910 kb)

10933_2012_9606_MOESM3_ESM.tif

SEM photographs of selected Botryococcus-samples of core P2 (for scales see bars). (A) Sample BOT/4-95 (534 cm depth) revealing skeleton-type colonies throughout the sample with poorly preserved, apical cell cups; observed diameters of colonies: 50-125 μm. (B) Sample 49BOT (189 cm depth), mainly consisting of well-preserved compound colonies with empty apical cell cups and diameters between 20 and 130 μm. (C) Sample 138BOT (279 cm depth), consisting of skeleton-type and well preserved compound colonies with diameters between 20 and 110 μm. (D) Badly preserved compound colony with apical cell cups almost indistinguishable (sample BOT/4-14; 452 cm depth). (E) Skeleton-type colony (sample BOT/4-14). (F) Well-preserved compound colony with empty apical cell cups (sample 138BOT). (G) Enlargement of the central part of the previous colony, showing cell cups with `growth rings′ of previous generations. (H) Well-preserved compound colony, partly with autospores inside the apical cell cups (sample BOT/4-14) (TIFF 12152 kb)

Reported ages and chemical composition of tephras in core P2 (DOC 33 kb)

AMS 14C-data from sediment core P2 and a modern aquatic macrophyte sample from Lake Pupuke (DOC 35 kb)

10933_2012_9606_MOESM6_ESM.doc

Summarized isotopic (δ 15N and δ 13COM; ‰) and geochemical data (TN, TC and TOC/TN) of potential sources of sedimentary organic matter in core P2 (DOC 211 kb)

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Heyng, A.M., Mayr, C., Lücke, A. et al. Environmental changes in northern New Zealand since the Middle Holocene inferred from stable isotope records (δ15N, δ13C) of Lake Pupuke. J Paleolimnol 48, 351–366 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-012-9606-5

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