The Central Asian Khamar Daban Mountain Range (SE Siberia) is a remote region with softwater lakes that probably receive atmospheric pollution from local industry as well as via long-distance transport. Palaeolimnological evidence of the impact of atmospheric pollution at one isolated and otherwise undisturbed highland site in the Khamar Daban, Lake Kholodnoye, was obtained. Short sediment cores were analysed for radio-isotopes, to establish a sediment chronology. The sediment accumulation rate in core KOL1 is slow (4 mg dry sediment cm-2 yr-1, or 0.3 mm yr-1) but trace metal (notably Pb and Zn) and spheroidal carbonaceous particle profiles show increases beginning at 2-cm (1920s) and 1.3-cm (1940s) depth, respectively. The trace metal profiles are essentially corroborated by KOL2, a replicate core analysed at a Russian laboratory. Diatom analysis revealed no evidence of recent acidification or indeed of any marked floristic change during the twentieth century (upper 2.5 cm of sediment). Lack of catchment disturbance was indicated by very uniform pollen frequencies throughout the core. Lake-water chemistry indicated an excess of sulphate. Both the diatom and base cation stratigraphies showed a small but sustained change over the entire 28 cm of the core. Maximum floristic change in sedimentary diatom assemblages occurred around 7 cm sediment depth, approximately dated to the mid-eighteenth century. Small but gradual up-core increases in Na, K and Mg indicate a disturbance in the delivery of minerals from the catchment to the lake. The sedimentary profiles of trace metals and spheroidal carbonaceous particles show that the site is contaminated by low-level but nevertheless significant atmospheric pollution. This contamination occurred during the twentieth century. Small changes in the diatom and other geochemical sedimentary records predate these industrial impacts and so could reflect longer-term catchment weathering processes and/or indirect effects of climate change.
Appleby, P.G. and Oldfield, F.1978: The calculation of 210Pb dates assuming a constant rate of supply of unsupported by 210Pb to the sediment. Catena5, 1-8.
2.
Appleby, P.G., Nolan, P.J., Gifford, D.W., Godfrey, M.J., Oldfield, F., Anderson, N.J. and Battarbee, R.W.1986: 210Pb dating by low-background gamma counting. Hydrobiologia143, 21-27.
3.
Appleby, P.G., Richardson, N. and Nolan, P.J.1991: 241Am dating of lake sediments. Hydrobiologia214, 35-42.
4.
Anisimov, M.P., Aksyonov, A.A., Vershinin, S.N., Pashchenko, S.E., Bubnov, V.-A., Khodzher, T.-V. and Lazareva, L.-S.1987: Observations of the anthropogenic influence on disperse composition of atmospheric aerosol of Lake Baikal. Proceedings of Gydrometeoizdat St. Petersburg (Leningrad), 105-110 (in Russian).
5.
Baron, J., Norton, S.A., Beeson, D.R. and Herrmann, R.1986: Sediment diatom and metal stratigraphy from Rocky Mountain lakes with special reference to atmospheric deposition. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.43, 1350-62.
6.
Battarbee, R.W.1993: Surface water acidification. In Roberts, N., editor, Global environmental change: geographical perspectives, Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 213-41.
7.
Battarbee, R.W., Anderson, N.J., Appleby, P.G., Flower, R.J., Fritz, S.C., Haworth, E.Y., Higgitt, S., Jones, V.J., Kreiser, Munro, M.A.R., Natkanski, J., Oldfield, F., Patrick, S.T., Richardson, N.G., Rippey, B. and Stevenson, A.C.1988: Lake acidification in the United Kingdom 1800-1986. London: ENSIS Publishing.
8.
Battarbee, R.W., Mason, J., Renberg, I. and Talling, J.F.1990: Palaeolimnology and acidification. Proceedings of a Royal Society Discussion Meeting. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 219 pp.
9.
Battarbee, R.W., Stevenson, A.C., Rippey, B., Fletcher, C., Natkanski, J., Wik, M., and Flower, R.J.1989: Causes of lake acidification in Galloway, south-west Scotland: a palaeoecological evaluation of the relative roles of atmospheric contamination and catchment change for two acidified sites with non-afforested catchments . J. Ecology77, 651-72. Berglund, B.E., editor, 1986: Handbook of Holocene palaeoecology and palaeohydrology. Chichester: J. Wiley.
10.
Birks, H.J.B., Line, J.M., Juggins, S., Stevenson, A.C. and ter Braak, C.J.F.1990: Diatoms and pH reconstruction . Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond.B327, 263-78.
11.
Blaise, J.M., Kalf, J., Cornett, R.J. and Evans, R.D.1995: Evaluation of 210Pb dating in lake sediments using stable Pb, Ambrosia pollen, and 137Cs. J. Paleolimnology13, 169-78.
12.
Cameron, N.G., Rose, N.L., Appleby, P.G., Schnell, O.A., Battarbee, R.W., Patrick, S.T. and Flower, R.J.1993: ALPE I: Palaeolimnology. ECRC Research Report No. 4. Department of Geography, University College London.
13.
Charles, D.F.1987: Paleolimnological evidence for recent acidification of Big Moose Lake, Adirondak Mountains, N.Y. (USA). Biogeochemistry3, 267-96.
14.
Charles, D.F., Bindford, M.W., Furlang, E.T., Hites, R.A., Mitchell, M.J., Norton, S.A., Oldfield, F., Paterson, M.J., Smol, J., Uuntala, A.J., White, J.R., Whitehead, D.R. and Wise, R.J.1990: Palaeoecological investigation of recent lake acidification in the Adirondak Mountains, N.Y. J. Paleolimnology3, 195-242.
15.
Cornwell, J.C.1986: Diagenetic trace-metal profiles in Arctic lake sediments. EnvironmentalScience & Technology20, 299-302.
16.
Davis, R.B., Anderson, D.S., Norton, S.A. and Whiting, M.C.1994: Acidity of twelve New England (U.S.A.) lakes in recent centuries. J. Paleolimnology12, 103-54.
17.
Davison, W.1993: Iron and manganese in lakes. Earth Science Reviews34, 119-63.
18.
Duce, R.A., Liss, P.S., Merrill, J.T., Atlas, E.L., Buat-Menard, P., Hicks, B.B., Miller, J.M., Prospero, J.M., Arimoto, R., Church, T.M., Ellis, W., Galloway, J.N., Hansen, L., Jickells, T.D., Knap, A.H., Reinhardt, K.H., Schneider, B., Soudine, A., Tokos, J.J., Tsunogai, S., Wolast, R. and Zhou, M.1991: The atmospheric input of trace metals species to the world ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles5, 193-259. Emerson, S.1976: Early diagenesis in anaerobic lake sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta40, 925-34.
19.
Engstrom, D.R. and Wright, H.E. Jr. 1984: Chemical stratigraphy of lake sediments as a record of environmental change. In Haworth, E.Y. and Lund, J.W.G., editors, Lake sediments and environmental history. Leicester: Leicester University Press, 11, 67.
20.
Fisher, J.B. and Matisoff, G.1981: High resolution vertical profiles of pH in recent sediments . Hydrobiologia79, 277-84.
21.
Flower, R.J. and Jones, V.J.1989: Taxonomic descriptions and occurrences of new Achnanthes taxa in acid lakes in the U.K. Diatom Research4, 227-39.
22.
Flower, R.J., Battarbee, R.W. and Appleby, P.G.1987: The recent palaeolimnology of acid lakes in Galloway, south-west Scotland: diatom analysis, pH trends and the role of afforestation . J. Ecology75, 797-824. Flower, R.J., Battarbee, R.W., Natkanski, J. and Rippey, B.1988: The recent acidification of a large Scottish loch located partly within a national nature reserve and site of special scientific interest. J. Appl. Ecology25, 715-24.
23.
Flower, R.J., Cameron, N.G., Rose, N., Fritz, S.C., Harriman, R. and Stevenson, A.C.1990: Post-1970 water chemistry changes and palaeolimnology of several acidified upland lakes in the UK. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B327, 427-33.
24.
Flower, R.J., Mackay, A.W., Rose, N.L., Boyle, J.A., Dearing, J.A., Appleby, P.G., Kuzmina, A.E. and Granina, L.Z.1995: Sedimentary records of recent environmental change in Lake Baikal, Siberia. The Holocene5, 323-27.
25.
Flower, R.J., Rippey, B., Rose, N.L., Appleby, P.G. and Battarbee, R.W.1994: Palaeolimnological evidence for the acidification and contamination of lakes by atmospheric pollution in western Ireland. J. Ecology82, 581-96.
26.
Galloway, J.N.1995: Acid deposition: perspectives in time and space. Water, Air and Soil Pollution85, 15-24.
27.
Glew, J.R.1989: A new trigger mechanism for sediment samplers. J. Paleolimnology2, 241-43.
Greenberg, A.E., Conners, J.J. and Jenkins, D., editors, 1980: Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater . Washington: American Public Health Association.
30.
Henriksen, A.1982: Alkalinity and acid precipitation research. Vatten38, 83-85.
31.
Hermanson, M.K.1991: Chronology and sources of anthropogenic trace metals in sediments from shallow Arctic lakes. Environ. Sci. Technol.25, 2059-64.
32.
Hill, O.M.1973: Diversity and evenness: a unifying notation and its consequences . Ecology54, 427-32.
33.
Hilton, J., Davison, W. and Ochsenbein, UJ1985: A mathematical model for analysis of sediment core data: implications for enrichment factor calculations and trace-metal transport mechanisms. Chemical Geology48, 281-91.
34.
Irwin, J.G., Campbell, G.W., Cape, J.N., Clark, P.A., Davies, T.D., Derwent, R.G., Fisher, B.E.A., Fowler, D., Kallend, A.S., Longhurst, J.W.S.Longhurst. J.W.S., Martin, A., Smith, F.B. and Warrilow, D.A.1990: Acid deposition in the United Kingdom. Third Report of The United Kingdom Review Group on Acid Rain. London : Department of the Environment.
35.
Jones, V.J., Flower, R.J., Appleby, P.G., Natkanski, J., Richardson, N., Rippey, B., Stevenson, A.C. and Battarbee, R.W.1993: Palaeolimnological evidence for the acidification and atmospheric contamination of lochs in the Cairngorm and Lochnagar area of Scotland. J. Ecology81, 3-24.
36.
Kawashima, M., Takamatsu, T. and Koyama, M.1988: Mechanisms of precipitation on manganese (II) in Lake Biwa, a freshwater lake. Water Research22, 613-18.
37.
Kokorin, A.O. and Politov, S.V.1991: Fallout of pollutants by precipitation in the south Baikal area. Soviet Meteorology and Hydrology1, 48-54.
38.
Koustenogii, P.K., Bufetov, N.S., Drozdova, V.I., Golobkova, V.L., Khodzher, T.V., Koutzenogii, K.P., Makarov, V.I., Obolkin, V.A. and Potemkin, V.L.1993: Ion composition of atmospheric aerosol near Lake Baikal . Atmospheric Environment27A, 1629-33.
39.
Lehman, J.T.1975: Reconstructing the rate of accumulation of lake sediment: the effect of sediment focusing. Quaternary Research5, 541-50.
40.
Lumme, I. and Arkhipov, V.1996: Atmospheric deposition of sulphur, nitrogen and base cations in Scots pine stands of south-eastern Finland and the Karelian Isthmus, NW Russia in 1992. Hydrobiologia322, 223-26. Mackereth, F.J.H.1966: Some chemical observations on post-glacial lake sediments . Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond.250B, 165-213.
41.
Marchetto, A., Mosello, R., Psenner, R., Barbieri, A., Bendetta, D., Tait, D. and Tartari, G.A.1994: Evaluation of the level of acidification and the critical loads for alpine lakes. Ambio23, 150-54.
42.
Mayer, L.M., Liotta, F.P. and Norton, S.A.1982: Hypolimnetic redox cycling and phosphorus cycling in hypereutrophic Lake Sebasticook, Maine. Water Research16, 1189-96.
43.
National Power1992: National Power Environmental Performance Review 1992. Swindon, UK: National Power PLC.
44.
Nembrini, G., Capobianco, J.A., Garcia, J. and Jacquet, J.-M.1982: Interaction between interstitial water and sediment in two cores of Lac Leman, Switzerland. Hydrobiologia92, 363-75.
45.
Obolkin, V. and Khodzher, T.1990: Annual fluxes of sulphates and nitrates from the atmosphere in the region of Lake Baikal. Soviet Meteorology and Hydrology7, 71-76.
46.
Ochsenbein, UJ, Davison, W., Hilton, J. and Haworth, E.Y.1983: The geochemical record of major cation and trace metals in a productive lake. Archiv für Hydrobiologie98, 463-88.
47.
Politov, S.V.1991: Spatial distribution peculiarities of the inputs of pollutants in terrestrial ecosystems of the Lake Baikal watershed. In Y.A. Izrael and Y.A. Anokin , editors, Monitoring and estimation of Lake Baikal and Pribaikal State, St Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 97-102 (in Russian).
48.
— 1995: Environmental pollution and assessment of the state of Pribaikalye highland landscapes (Lake Baikal region). Unpublished PhD thesis, Institute of Global Climate and Ecology, 20 Glebovskaja Str., 107258 Moscow, Russia, 155 pp (in Russian).
49.
Politov, S.V., Anokin, Y.A., Nititin, A.I., and Bovkun, L.A.1994: Estimation of the Chernobyl accident influence on the Baikal drainage basin. In Y.A. Israel and Y.A. Anokin, editors, Problems of socio-ecological monitoring, St Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 71-78 (in Russian).
50.
Prentice, I.C.1980: Multidimensional scaling as a research tool in Quaternary palynology: a review of theory and methods. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol.31, 71-104.
51.
Psenner, R. and Catalan, J.1994: Chemical composition of lakes in crystalline basins: a combination of atmospheric deposition, geologic background, biological activity and human action. In Margalef, R., editor, Limnology now: a paradigm of planetary problems, Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B.V., 255-314.
52.
Psenner, R. and Schmidt, R.1992: Climate driven pH control of remote alpine lakes and effects of acid deposition. Nature356, 781-83.
53.
Renberg, I.1986: Concentration and annual accumulation values of heavy metals in lake sediments: their significance in studies of the history of heavy metal pollution. Hydrobiologia143, 379-85.
54.
Renberg, I. and Wik, M.1985: Soot particle counting in recent lake sediments, an indirect dating method. Ecological Bulletin37, 53-57. Renberg, I., Persson, M.W. and Emteryd, O.1994: Pre-industrial atmospheric lead contamination detected in Swedish lake sediments. Nature368, 323-26.
55.
Rippey, B., Murphy, R.J. and Kyle, S.W.1982: Anthropogenically derived changes in the sedimentary flux of Mg, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Hg, Pb, and P in Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland. Environmental Science & Technology16, 23-30.
56.
Rodhe, H., Galloway, J. and Dianwu, Z.1993: Acidification in Southeast Asia - prospects for the coming decades. Ambio21, 148-50.
57.
Rose, N.L.1994: A note on further refinement to a procedure for the extraction of carbonaceous fly-ash particles from sediments. J. Paleolimnology11, 201-204.
58.
— 1995: Carbonaceous particle record in lake sediments from the Arctic and other remote areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Sci. Tot. Environ.160/161, 487-96.
59.
Rowan, D.J. and Kalff, J.1991: The limnological implications of catchment sediment load . Verh. Internat. Verin. Limnol.24, 2980-84. Rowan, D.J., Kalff, J. and Rasmussen, J.B.1992: Profundal sediment organic content and physical character do not reflect lake trophic status, but rather reflect inorganic sedimentation and exposure. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.49, 1431-38.
60.
Stevenson, A.C., Juggins, S., Birks, H.J.B., Anderson, N.J., Battarbee, R.W., Berge, F., Davis, R.B., Flower, R.J., Haworth, E.Y., Jones, V.J., Kingston, J.C., Kreiser, A., Line, J.M., Munro, M.A.R. and Renberg, I.1991: The surface waters acidification project palaeolimnology programme: modern diatom/lake water chemistry data-set. London: ENSIS.
61.
Stevenson, A.C., Patrick, S.T., Kreiser, A. and Battarbee, R.W.1987: Palaeoecological evaluation of the recent acidification of susceptible lakes: methods utilized under DoE contract PECD7/7/139 and the Royal Society SWAP project. Palaeoecology Research Unit, University College London, Research Paper 26.
62.
ter Braak, C.J.F.1987: CANOCO - a FORTRAN program for canonical community ordination by [partial] [detrended] [canonical] correspondence analysis, principal components analysis and redundancy analysis (version 2.1). Wageningen : ITI-TNO, 95 pp.
63.
Tessier, A., Carignan, R., Dubreuil, B. and Rapin, F.1989: Partitioning of zinc between the water column and the oxic sediments of lake. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta53, 1511-22.
64.
Ukawrg1986: Acidity in United Kingdom freshwaters. UK Acid Waters Review Group interim report. London: Department of the Environment.
65.
Verta, M., Tolenen, K., and Simola, H.1989: History of heavy metal pollution in Finland as recorded by lake sediments. Sci. Tot. Envirnn.87, 1-18.
66.
Wathne, B.M.1992: Acidification of mountain lakes: palaeolimnology and ecology. The ALPE project. In Mosello, R., Wathne, B.M. and Giussani, G., editors, Limnology on groups of remote mountain lakes; on-going and planned activities, Doc. Ist. Ital. Idrobiol.32, 7-22.
67.
Weiler, R.R.1973: The interstitial water composition in the sediments of the Great Lakes. I. Western Lake Ontario. Limnology & Oceanography18, 918-31.
68.
Wik, M. and Renberg, I.1991: Recent atmospheric deposition in Sweden of carbonaceous particles from fossil-fuel combustion surveyed using lake sediments. Ambio20, 289-92.
