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Hypolimnetic oxygen conditions influence varve preservation and δ13C of sediment organic matter in Lake Tiefer See, NE Germany

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Abstract

Stable carbon isotopes of sediment organic matter (δ13COM) are widely applied in paleoenvironmental studies. Interpretations of δ13COM, however, remain challenging and factors that influence δ13COM may not apply across all lakes. Common explanations for stratigraphic shifts in δ13COM include changes in lake productivity or changes in inputs of allochthonous OM. We investigated the influence of different oxygen conditions (oxic versus anoxic) on the δ13COM values in the sediments of Lake Tiefer See. We analysed (1) a long sediment core from the deepest part of the lake, (2) two short, sediment–water interface cores from shallower water depths, and (3) OM in the water column, i.e. from sediment traps. Fresh OM throughout the entire water column showed a relatively constant δ13COM value of approximately − 30.5‰. Similar values, about − 31‰, were obtained for well-varved sediments in both the long and short, sediment–water interface cores. In contrast, δ13COM values from non-varved sediments in all cores were significantly less negative (− 29‰). The δ13COM values in the sediment–water interface cores from different water depths differ for sediments of the same age, if oxygen conditions at the time of deposition were different at these sites, as suggested by the state of varve preservation. Sediments deposited from AD 1924 to 1980 at 62 m water depth are varved and exhibit δ13COM values around − 31‰, whereas sediments of the same age in the core from 35 m water depth are not varved and show less negative δ13COM values of about − 29‰. The relation between varve occurrence and δ13COM values suggests that δ13COM is associated with oxygen conditions because varve preservation depends on hypolimnetic anoxia. A mechanism that likely influences δ13COM is selective degradation of OM under oxic conditions, such that organic components with more negative δ13COM are preferably decomposed, leading to less negative δ13COM values in the remaining, undegraded OM pool. Greater decomposition of OM in non-varved sediments is supported by lower TOC concentrations in these deposits (~ 5%) compared to well-varved sediments (~ 15%). Even in lakes that display small variations in productivity and terrestrial OM input through time, large spatial and temporal differences in hypolimnetic oxygen concentrations may be an important factor controlling sediment δ13COM.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the technicians and the coring team of GFZ-section Climate Dynamics and Landscape Evolution who assisted in the field and lab (G. Arnold, D. Berger, B. Brademann, S. Lauterbach, P. Meier, F. Ott, R. Schedel, R. Weißbach). We further acknowledge M. Köhler (MKfactory) for assistance during coring, M. Groß-Schmölders (GFZ) for helping with thin section analyses and D. Balanzategui for suggestions that improved the manuscript. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers and the editor for their constructive comments on this manuscript. This study is a contribution to the Virtual Institute of Integrated CLimate and Landscape Evolution Analysis, ICLEA, of the Helmholtz Association (Grant Number VH-VI-415). It is also a contribution to the climate initiative REKLIM Topic 8 “Abrupt climate change derived from proxy data” and uses infrastructure of the TERrestrial ENvironmental Observatory (TERENO), both of the Helmholtz Association. Geochemical data files for the investigated Tiefer See sediment intervals are stored in the PANGAEA data library.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section Climate Dynamics and Landscape Evolution, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany

    Nadine Dräger, Birgit Plessen, Ulrike Kienel, Arne Ramisch, Rik Tjallingii, Sylvia Pinkerneil & Achim Brauer

  2. Department of Environmental Resources and Geohazards, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw, Poland

    Michał Słowiński

  3. Institute of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Achim Brauer

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  1. Nadine Dräger
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Correspondence to Nadine Dräger.

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Dräger, N., Plessen, B., Kienel, U. et al. Hypolimnetic oxygen conditions influence varve preservation and δ13C of sediment organic matter in Lake Tiefer See, NE Germany. J Paleolimnol 62, 181–194 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-019-00084-2

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