Holocene environmental fluctuations of Lake Bosten (Xinjiang, China) inferred from ostracods and stable isotopes
Abstract
Lake Bosten is an oligohaline lake in an intermontane basin of the Tianshan Mountains in northwestern China. The open-basin lake receives water from a large catchment area (56,000 km2) with the Kaidu River as its main tributary. A core of 9.25 m length was drilled at 6.25 m water depth in the southwestern part of the lake near the Kaidu river inflow. Sediments of the core contain authigenic carbonate materials, including calcitic shells of ostracods, charophyte-oogonia and stem incrustations. Five AMS-dating results provided the base to establish the chronology of the core which extends back to about 8.4 cal. ka BP. The majority of the ostracod taxa from the core may be classified into two different groups comprising littoral taxa (Cyclocypris ovum, Cypridopsis vidua, Darwinula stevensoni, Fabaeformiscandona hyalina, Herpetocypris chevreuxi, Heterocypris salina) and taxa reflecting profundal conditions (Candona neglecta, Cytherissa lacustris and Fabaeformiscandona caudata). Among these taxa, C. neglecta and D. stevensoni were the most abundant ostracod species providing more than 50 % of the fossil shells in most core samples. Where C. neglecta peaks D. stevensoni often shows minima abundances and vice versa. Stable isotope data derived from ostracod calcite display large variations throughout the core. d18O and d13C values vary over a range of 10 ‰ and 6.7 ‰ respectively. These large ranges may reflect that Lake Bosten responded like a semi-closed lake at least. Low lake levels inferred from species assemblages correspond to lowest d18O values thus indicating the influence of isotopically light river water at the core site and a low residence time and salinity. High d18O values correspond to higher abundances of Candona neglecta and low abundances of littoral taxa pointing towards deeper conditions, a higher distance of the core site from the river inflow, a higher residence time and corresponding salinity of the lake water. On the base of ostracod and stable isotope data deepest conditions occurred between 8.2 and 5.7 cal. ka BP, interrupted by a brief return to lower levels at about 7.2 cal. ka BP. Low levels were reconstructed in the following period between 5.7 and 5.1 cal. ka BP and between 4.4 and 4.2 cal. ka BP. Spells of shallow conditions were recorded at 3.9, 3.6, 2.7, 2.3 and 1.8 cal. ka BP and for a longer period between 1.4 and 0.6 cal. ka BP.
- Publication:
-
EGS - AGU - EUG Joint Assembly
- Pub Date:
- April 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003EAEJA.....6609M