Diatom dynamics during the last six centuries in Lake Odensjön: a new varved sediment record from southern Sweden

Abstract

Varved lake sediments offer valuable insight into past environmental conditions with high temporal resolution and precise chronological control. A combination of diatom and geochemical analyses of the recently deposited sediments of Odensjön, a small dimictic lake in southern Sweden, shows alternating light and dark laminae composed of greater amounts of biogenic silica and organic matter, respectively. As confirmed by independent radiometric dating and Pb pollution data, and supported by scanning electron microscopy of individual laminae, these features represent ongoing deposition of biogenic varves. Corresponding diatom and geochemical data obtained from a 92-cm long freeze core provide evidence of substantial lake-ecosystem dynamics during the last six centuries, related mainly to variations in light penetration and wind shear driven by human-induced changes in catchment vegetation. The diatom assemblage of Odensjön’s varved sediments is dominated by planktonic species, primarily Asterionella formosa, Fragilaria saxoplanktonica and Discostella lacuskarluki during periods of forest cover, while increased catchment openness from the mid-1500s to the late 1800s led to increased abundance of Lindavia comensis. Long-term variations in climate and land use, mediated through changing length of the ice-cover season and nutrient input, respectively, probably contributed to the observed trends, as well as to variations in the appearance and visibility of the varve record across the sampled sediment sequence. Odensjön represents the southernmost varved sediment record in Fennoscandia documented to date, offering potential to study the effects of various types of external forcing on its sensitive lacustrine ecosystem since the Late Weichselian deglaciation. In the present study, we investigated the possibility of assessing the local impacts of two major, historically documented volcanic events, Laki 1783–84 and Tambora 1815, which are known to have affected European societies. Although the mildly alkaline waters of the lake are well buffered and hence relatively resilient to volcanic acid deposition, a minor response to the Laki eruption may be recorded in the diatom stratigraphy.