Orbital forcing of glacial/interglacial variations in chemical weathering and silicon cycling within the upper White Nile basin, East Africa: Stable-isotope and biomarker evidence from Lakes Victoria and Edward

On Quaternary time scales, the global biogeochemical cycle of silicon is interlocked with the carbon cycle through biotic enhancement of silicate weathering and uptake of dissolved silica by vascular plants and aquatic microalgae (notably diatoms, for which Si is an essential nutrient). Large tropical river systems dominate the export of Si from the continents to the oceans. Here, we investigate variations in Si cycling in the upper White Nile basin over the last 15 ka, using sediment cores from Lakes Victoria and Edward. Coupled measurements of stable O and Si isotopes on diatom separates were used to reconstruct past changes in lake hydrology and Si cycling, while the abundances of lipid biomarkers characteristic of terrestrial/emergent higher plants, submerged/floating aquatic macrophytes and freshwater algae document past ecosystem changes. During the late-glacial to mid-Holocene, 15–5.5 ka BP, orbital forcing greatly enhanced monsoon rainfall, forest cover and chemical weathering. Riverine inputs of dissolved silica from the lake catchments exceeded aquatic demand and may also have had lower Si-isotope values. Since 5.5 ka BP, increasingly dry climates and more open vegetation, reinforced by the spread of agricultural cropland over the last 3–4 ka, have reduced dissolved silica inputs into the lakes. Centennial-to millennial-scale dry episodes are also evident in the isotopic records and merit further investigation

Late Quaternary changes in ecosystems and carbon cycling on Mt. Kenya, East Africa: a landscape-ecological perspective based on multi-proxy lake-sediment influxes.

The degree to which different lakes within a landscape respond coherently (in unison) to external drivers such as climate change and soil development is uncertain. Presentation of multi-proxy, geochemical and palaeoecological data from individual lakes in the form of fluxes minimizes distortions resulting from variable sedimentation rates and changes in sediment composition. We use the accumulation rates of magnetic minerals, total organic C and N, terrestrial and aquatic biomarkers, graminoid epidermis, pollen, green algae, diatoms and diatom C in four small lakes, situated between 2350 and 4595m a.s.l. on the NE flank of Mt. Kenya, East Africa, to reconstruct changes in C cycling over the last 38 ka. The results conflict with earlier models of landscape and lake development, showing: (1) that glacial�interglacial changes in vegetation cannot be interpreted as simple, altitudinal shifts in the modern vegetation belts; and (2) that limnological changes were not coherent. Rapid variations in climate, water level, erosion and nutrient input overwhelmed long-term, successional trends in lake sedimentation and C accumulation since the Last Glacial Maximum. The results also reveal previously unrecognized features of the palaeoenvironmental record, such as the rapid degradation of organic matter in diatoms and the occurrence of a productive, fire-prone montane grassland during the highly seasonal, monsoonal climate of the Lateglacial and early Holocene

Towards an understanding of late Quaternary variations in the continental biogeochemical cycle Towards an understanding of late Quaternary variations in the co ntinental biogeochemical cycle of silicon multi-isotope and sediment-flux data for Lake Rutundu, Mt Kenya, East Africa, since 38ka BP/

Silicon is an essential nutrient for marine diatoms, which dominate the export of organic carbon to the deep ocean. Despite the dominance of the oceanic Si budget by fluvial inputs and the role of the land biosphere in controlling Si losses from rocks and soils to rivers, few studies have considered how continental biogeochemical Si fluxes varied on an orbital timescale. We reconstruct changes in Si cycling by the catchment-lake ecosystem of Lake Rutundu, Mt Kenya (3078 m a.s.l.), over the last ca. 38 ka, using a novel combination of lake-sediment fluxes and stable-isotope (13C, 15N, 18O, 30Si) data. Under glacial conditions (38.3-14.3 ka BP), high diatom productivity was maintained by substantial losses of dissolved SiO2 and soil nutrients from a sparse, leaky, terrestrial ecosystem. During the following period of enhanced monsoon rainfall and seasonality (14.3-9.5 ka BP), rapid Si cycling by fire-prone, mesic grassland was associated with substantial aeolian transport of opal phytoliths by smoke plumes, but greatly reduced nutrient losses in runoff. Invasion of tall, subalpine shrubs after 9.5 ka BP further enhanced landscape stability, leading to very low sediment fluxes of both phytoliths and diatoms. This case study offers new insights into processes that may have operated at biome to continental scales during the late Quaternary

Differentiation of neotropical ecosystems by modern soil phytolith assemblages and its implications for palaeoenvironmental and archaeological reconstructions

The interpretation of Neotropical fossil phytolith assemblages for palaeoenvironmental and archaeological reconstructions relies on the development of appropriate modern analogues. We analyzed modern phytolith assemblages from the soils of ten distinctive tropical vegetation communities in eastern lowland Bolivia, ranging from terra firme humid evergreen forest to seasonally-inundated savannah. Results show that broad ecosystems – evergreen tropical forest, semi-deciduous dry tropical forest, and savannah – can be clearly differentiated by examination of their phytolith spectra and the application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Differences in phytolith assemblages between particular vegetation communities within each of these ecosystems are more subtle, but can still be identified. Comparison of phytolith assemblages with pollen rain data and stable carbon isotope analyses from the same vegetation plots show that these proxies are not only complementary, but significantly improve taxonomic and ecosystem resolution, and therefore our ability to interpret palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records. Our data underline the utility of phytolith analyses for reconstructing Amazon Holocene vegetation histories and pre-Columbian land use, particularly the high spatial resolution possible with terrestrial soil-based phytolith studies