Opal (Zn/Si) ratios as a nearshore geochemical proxy in coastal Antarctica

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography 23 (2008): PA2218, doi:10.1029/2007PA001576.During the last 50 years, the Antarctic Peninsula has experienced rapid warming with associated retreat of 87% of marine and tidewater glacier fronts. Accelerated glacial retreat and iceberg calving may have a significant impact on the freshwater and nutrient supply to the phytoplankton communities of the highly productive coastal regions. However, commonly used biogenic carbonate proxies for nutrient and salinity conditions are not preserved in sediments from coastal Antarctica. Here we describe a method for the measurement of zinc to silicon ratios in diatom opal, (Zn/Si)opal, which is a potential archive in Antarctic marine sediments. A core top calibration from the West Antarctic Peninsula shows (Zn/Si)opal is a proxy for mixed layer salinity. We present down-core (Zn/Si)opal paleosalinity records from two rapidly accumulating sites taken from nearshore environments off the West Antarctic Peninsula which show an increase in meltwater input in recent decades. Our records show that the recent melting in this region is unprecedented for over 120 years.The work was funded as part of NERC Antarctic Funding Initiative AFI4– 02. K.R.H. is funded by NERC grant NER/S/A/2004/12390

The recent sedimentation history of Aqualate Mere (Central England): assessing the potential for lake restoration.

As part of English Nature's Lakes Flagship Project to address adverse environmental impacts on selected, important lakes, a proposal has been made to dredge Aqualate Mere. The site has experienced rapid, 'recent' sedimentation thought to be derived from a nearby canal. The aim of this study has been to determine the recent sedimentation history of the site in order to assess the possibility of the disposal to land of its sediments and the efficacy of this form of lake restoration. A predominantly clayey silt layer was found across the lake beneath which darker, organic-rich sediments were noted. This transition may represent the input of canal-derived sediments, although it may reflect other environmental changes at this time. The radiometric dating technique employed was unable to date this sediment boundary. A further change in the characteristics of the upper part of the clayey silt layer may represent an additional influence of the canal. Heavy metal levels were modest, whereas nutrient levels were relatively high and some pesticides were detected. Topsoil erosion supplying nutrients and other compounds associated with agriculture have been an important source of the lower layers of the clayey silt sediments in particular. The highest levels of most pollutants were found in the finer sediments in the uppermost (post-1950s) part of the sediment profile. These sediments appear to reflect a change in the characteristics of the sediments of the canal, which was associated with a change in the nature of its water supply. The key geochemical properties of the sediments should not preclude the land-based disposal of dredged materials under current UK regulations for waste management. Accurate estimation of sediment quantities was limited, as the interface between the 'recent' and underlying sediments was not positively identified at all sample points