https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2024.2106
Sediment biomarkers record hydrological and anthropogenic-driven environmental changes since 1800 AD in the Ili-Balkhash Basin, arid Central Asia
Submitted: 22 November 2022
Accepted: 8 February 2024
Published: 27 February 2024
Accepted: 8 February 2024
Abstract Views: 621
PDF: 315
HTML: 43
HTML: 43
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Human activity and hydroclimate change greatly influence the environment in a lake and its catchment, particularly in areas with fragile ecosystems, such as arid Central Asia. In this study, lipid biomarkers (n-alkanes and n-fatty acids) were measured in a 210Pb- and 137Cs-dated sediment core from Lake Balkhash to determine their environmental significance and infer the history of environmental change over the last ~200 years. The terrestrial origin of long-chain n-alkanes and the aquatic origin of both n-fatty acids and mid-/short-chain n-alkanes were inferred from molecular distributions and diagnostic ratios. Three major environmental phases were identified over the past two centuries based on stratigraphic shifts in biomarker indicators. During 1800-1860 AD, the lake exhibited a high-water level with abundant submerged/floating macrophytes and limited phytoplankton, as suggested by multiple indicators, e.g., high proportions of aquatic macrophytes (Paq) and long-chain n-fatty acids (L-FAs). Overall, minor terrestrial inputs were revealed by low concentrations of long-chain n-alkanes (L-ALKs), suggesting dense vegetation cover in the catchment. The lake environment experienced a pronounced change in the subsequent phase from 1860–1930 AD, during which the cover of submerged/floating macrophytes gradually diminished, as revealed by the decreasing trend of aquatic proxies, e.g., L-FAs and Paq. In contrast, the number of emergent plants and terrestrial inputs increased, as suggested by the decreased Paq values. A great variation in water levels likely resulted in the shrinkage of the submerged/floating macrophyte cover. During 1930-2017 AD, anthropogenic impacts began to appear on the sediment profile. The highest terrestrial inputs, as revealed by the maximum L-ALK abundance on record, indicated intensive exploitation of the catchment during 1935-1959 AD. The lowest L-FA and Paq values suggested that submerged/floating macrophytes were at the lowest levels during this phase, possibly in response to the decreased water levels and increasing salinity. Increased human-induced nutrient loading coupled with elevated regional temperature prompted the lake to become an increasingly productive lake system, especially in more recent decades, as indicated by the highest levels of short-chain lipids. These results highlight the important role of hydrological variation and human activity in the environmental evolution of the Ili-Balkhash Basin.
Affouri H, Sahraoui O, 2017. The sedimentary organic matter from a Lake Ichkeul core (far northern Tunisia): Rock-Eval and biomarker approach. J Afr Earth Sci 129:248-259.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2017.01.017
Aichner B, Feakins SJ, Lee JE, Herzschuh U, Liu X, 2015. High-resolution leaf wax carbon and hydrogen isotopic record of the late Holocene paleoclimate in arid Central Asia. Clim Past 11:619-633.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-619-2015
Appleby PG, 2001. Chronostratigraphic technique in recent sediments, p. 171-203. In: Last WL, Smol JP (eds.), Tracking environmental change using lake sediments, volume 1: Basin analysis, coring, and chronological techniques. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47669-X_9
Barinova S, Krupa E, Kadyrova U, 2017. Spatial dynamics of species richness of phytoplankton of Lake Balkhash in the gradient of abiotic factors. Transylv Rev System Ecol Res 19:1-18.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/trser-2017-0009
Battarbee RW, Bennion B, 2011. Palaeolimnology and its developing role in assessing the history and extent of human impact on lake ecosystems. J Paleolimnol 45:399-404.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-010-9423-7
Bornette G, Puijalon S, 2011. Response of aquatic plants to abiotic factors: a review. Aquat Sci 73:1-14.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-010-0162-7
Bray EE, Evans ED, 1961. Distribution of n-paraffins as a clue to recognition of source rocks. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 22:2-15.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(61)90069-2
Brenner M, Whitmore TJ, Lasi MA, Cable JE, Cable PH, 1999. A multi-proxy trophic state reconstruction for shallow Orange Lake, Florida, USA: possible influence of macrophytes on limnetic nutrient concentrations. J Paleolimnol 21:215-233.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008079500375
Bruel R, Sabatier P, 2020. serac: an R package for short-lived radionuclide chronology of recent sediment cores. J Environ Radioact 225:106449.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106449
Chen F, Chen JH, Homes J, Boomer I, Austin P, Gates JB, et al., 2010. Moisture changes over the last millennium in arid central Asia: A review, synthesis and comparison with monsoon region. Quat Sci Rev 29:1055-1068.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.01.005
Chiba T, Endo K, Sugai T, Haraguchi T, Kondo R, Kubota J, 2016. Reconstruction of Lake Balkhash levels and precipitation/evaporation changes during the last 2000 years from fossil diatom assemblages. Quat Int 197:330-341.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.009
Cranwell PA, 1984. Lipid geochemistry of sediments from Upton Broad, a small productive lake. Org Geochem 7:25-37.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0146-6380(84)90134-7
Cranwell PA, Eglinton G, Robinson N, 1987. Lipids of aquatic organisms as potential contributors to lacustrine sediments. Org Geochem 11:513-527.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0146-6380(87)90007-6
Diefendorf AF, Freimuth EJ, 2017. Extracting the most from terrestrial plant-derived n-alkyl lipids and their carbon isotopes from the sedimentary record: A review. Org Geochem 103:1-21.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2016.10.016
Eglinton G, Hamilton RJ, 1967. Leaf epicuticular waxes. Science 156:1322-1335.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.156.3780.1322
Fang J, Wu F, Xiong Y, Wang S, Yang H, 2017. A comparison of the distribution and sources of organic matter in surface sediments collected from northwestern and southwestern plateau lakes in China. J Limnol 76:1607.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2017.1607
Feng ZD, Wu HN, Zhang CJ, Ran M, Sun AZ, 2013. Bioclimatic change of the past 2500 years within the Balkhash Basin, eastern Kazakhstan, Central Asia. Quat Int 311:63-70.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.06.032
Ficken KJ, Li B, Swain DL, Eglinton G, 2000. An n-alkane proxy for the sedimentary input of submerged/floating freshwater aquatic macrophytes. Org Geochem 31:745-749.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(00)00081-4
Freeman KH, Pancost RD, 2014. Biomarkers for terrestrial plants and climate, p. 395-416. In: Turekian HD, Holland KK (eds.), Treatise on geochemistry. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-095975-7.01028-7
Garcia-Orellana J, Gracia E, Vizcaino A, Masque P, Olid C, Martinez-Ruiz F, et al., 2006. Identifying instrumental and historical earthquake records in the SW Iberian Margin using 210Pb turbidite dating. Geophys Res Lett 33:L24601.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL028417
Haas M, Kaltenrieder P, Ladd SN, Welte C, Strasser M, Eglinton TI, Dubois N, 2020. Land-use evolution in the catchment of Lake Murten, Switzerland. Quat Sci Rev 230:106154.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106154
Han J, Calvin M, 1969. Hydrocarbon distribution of algae and bacteria, and microbiological activity in sediments. PNAS 64:436-443.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.64.2.436
Huang K, Ma L, Abuduwaili J, Liu W, Issanova G, Saparov G, Lin L, 2020. Human-induced enrichment of potentially toxic elements in a sediment core of Lake Balkhash, the largest lake in Central Asia. Sustainability 12:4717.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114717
Imentai A, Thevs N, Schmidt S, Nurtazin S, Salmurzauli R, 2015. Vegetation, fauna, and biodiversity of the Ile Delta and southern Lake Balkhash - A review. J Great Lakes Res 41:688–696.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2015.04.002
Juggins S, 2015. rioja: Analysis of Quaternary Science Data. R package version 0.9-9. Available from http://cran.r-project.org/package=rioja
Krupa E, Slyvinskiy G, Barinova S, 2014. The effect of climatic factors on the long term dynamics of aquatic ecosystems of the Balkhash Lake (Kazakhstan, Central Asia). Adv Stud Biol 6:115-136.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12988/asb.2014.4523
Lan JH, Wang TL, Chawchai S, Cheng P, Zhou K, Yu KK, et al., 2020. Time marker of 137Cs fallout maximum in lake sediments of Northwest China. Quat Sci Rev 241:106413.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106413
Liu H, Liu WG, 2017. Concentration and distributions of fatty acids in algae, submerged plants and terrestrial plants from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Org Geochem 113:17-26.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2017.08.008
Liu W, Ma L, Wu JL, Abuduwaili JLL, 2017. Environmental variability and human activity over the past 140 years documented by sediments of Ebinur Lake in arid central Asia. J Limnol 76:1587.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2017.1587
Lu YH, Meyers PA, 2009. Sediment lipid biomarkers as recorders of the contamination and cultural eutrophication of Lake Erie, 1909-2003. Org Geochem 40:912-921.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2009.04.012
Meyers PA, 2003. Applications of organic geochemistry to paleolimnological reconstructions: a summary of examples from the Laurentian Great Lakes. Org Geochem 34:261-289.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(02)00168-7
Mills K, Vane CH, Lopes dos Santos RA, Ssemmanda I, Leng MJ, Ryves DB, 2018. Linking land and lake: using novel geochemical techniques to understand biological response to environmental change. Quat Sci Rev 202:122-138.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.09.038
Mischke S, 2020. Large Asian lakes in a changing world: natural state and human impact. Cham: Springer.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42254-7
Mischke S, Zhang CJ, Plessen B, 2020. Lake Balkhash (Kazakhstan): Recent human impact and natural variability in the last 2900 years. J Great Lakes Res 46:267-276.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2020.01.008
Moberg A, Sonechkin DM, Holmgren K, Datsenko NM, Karlén W, Lauritzen SE, 2005. Highly variable Northern Hemisphere temperatures reconstructed from low- and high-resolution proxy data. Nature 433:613-617.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03265
Myrzakhmetov A, Alimkulov S, Madibekov A, 2017. Level regime of Balkhash Lake as the indicator of the state of the environmental ecosystems of the region. Int J Adv Res Sci Eng Technol 4:4554-4563.
Panyushkina IP, Meko DM, Macklin MG, Toonen WHJ, Mukhamedeiv MM, Konovalov VG, et al., 2018. Runoff variations in Lake Balkhash Basin, Central Asia, 1779-2015 inferred from tree rings. Clim Dyn 51:3161-77.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4072-z
Propastin P, 2012. Problems of water resources management in the drainage basin of Lake Balkhash with respect to political development, p. 449-461. In: Leal Filho W (eds.), Climate change and the sustainable use of water resources. Berlin: Springer.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22266-5_28
Pueppke SG, Iklasov MK, Beckmann V, Nurtazin ST, Thevs N, Sharakhmetov S, Hoshino B, 2018a. Challenges for sustainable use of the fish resources from Lake Balkhash, a fragile lake in an arid ecosystem. Sustainability 10:1234.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041234
Pueppke SG, Zhang QL, Nurtazin ST, 2018b. Irrigation in the Ili River Basin of Central Asia: from ditches to dams and diversion. Water 10:1650.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w10111650
Sala R, Deom JM, Aladin NV, Plotnikov IS, Nurtazin S, 2020. Geological history and present conditions of Lake Balkhash, p. 143-175. In: Mischke S (Ed.), Large Asian lakes in a changing world. Cham: Springer.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42254-7_5
Santos Neto EVD, Hayes JM, Takaki T, 1998. Isotopic biogeochemistry of the Neocomian lacustrine and Upper Aptian marine-evaporitic sediments of the Potiguar Basin, Northeastern Brazil. Org Geochem 28:361-381.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(98)00007-2
Schwark L, Zink K, Lechterbeck J, 2002. Reconstruction of postglacial to early Holocene vegetation history in terrestrial Central Europe via cuticular lipid biomarkers and pollen records from lake sediments. Geology 30:463-466.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0463:ROPTEH>2.0.CO;2
Shen BB, Wu JL, Zhan S, Jin M, 2021a. Residues of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in waters of the Ili-Balkhash Basin, arid Central Asia: concentrations and risk assessment. Chemosphere 273:129705.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129705
Shen BB, Wu JL, Zhan S, Jin M, Saparov A, Abuduwaili J, 2021b. Spatial variations and controls on the hydrochemistry of surface waters across the Ili-Balkhash Basin, arid Central Asia. J Hydrol 600:126565.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126565
Smol JP, 2019. Under the radar: long-term perspectives on ecological changes in lakes. P Roy Soc B-Biol Sci 286:1906.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0834
Toivonen H, Huttunen P, 1995. Aquatic macrophytes and ecological gradients in 57 small lakes in southern Finland. Aquat Bot 51:197-221.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3770(95)00458-C
Volkman JK, Barrett SM, Blackburn SI, Mansour MP, Sikes EL, Gelin F, 1998. Microalgal biomarkers: a review of recent research developments. Org Geochem 29:1163-1179.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(98)00062-X
Wan ZF, Wang XQ, Li YF, Xu X, Sun YF, Yin ZX, Guan HX, 2018. The composition and geochemical significance of organic matters in surface sediments from the Southwest Sub-basin of the South China Sea. J Asian Earth Sci 171:103-117.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2018.07.012
Wu JL, Ma L, Yu H, Zeng HA, Liu W, Abuduwaili J, 2013. Sediment geochemical records of environmental change in Lake Wuliangsu, Yellow River Basin, North China. J Paleolimnol 50:245-255.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-013-9718-6
Yang B, Ljung K, Nielsen AB, Fahlgren E, Hammarlund D, 2021. Impacts of long-term land use on terrestrial organic matter input to lakes based on lignin phenols in sediment records from a Swedish forest lake. Sci Total Environ 774:145517.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145517
Zhang HL, Wu JL, Li QY, Jin M, 2021. A ~300-year record of environmental changes in Lake Issyk-Kul, Central Asia, inferred from lipid biomarkers in sediments. Limnologica 90:125909.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2021.125909
Edited by
Andrea Lami, National Research Council, Water Research Institute (CNR-IRSA), Verbania Pallanza, ItalySupporting Agencies
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Pan-Third Pole Environment Study for a Green Silk RoadHow to Cite
Zhang, Hongliang, Jinglu Wu, Long Ma, Shuie Zhan, Miao Jin, and Zhangdong Jin. 2024. “Sediment Biomarkers Record Hydrological and Anthropogenic-Driven Environmental Changes since 1800 AD in the Ili-Balkhash Basin, Arid Central Asia”. Journal of Limnology 83 (1). https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2024.2106.
Copyright (c) 2024 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Similar Articles
- Walter Finsinger, Thierry Fonville, Emiliya Kirilova, Andrea Lami, Piero Guilizzoni, André F. Lotter, A long-term multi-proxy record of varved sediments highlights climate-induced mixing-regime shift in a large hard-water lake ~5000 years ago , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 73 No. 2 (2014)
- Luigi Hinegk, Luca Adami, Sebastiano Piccolroaz, Marina Amadori, Marcello Moretti, Marco Tubino, Marco Toffolon, Multidecadal analysis of Lake Garda water balance , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 82 (2023)
- Päivi Rinta, David Bastviken, Jos Schilder, Maarten van Hardenbroek, Tabea Stötter, Oliver Heiri, Higher late summer methane emission from central than northern European lakes , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 76 No. 1 (2017)
- Enlou Zhang, Yanmin Cao, Peter Langdon, Qian Wang, Ji Shen, Xiangdong Yang, Within-lake variability of subfossil chironomid assemblage in a large, deep subtropical lake (Lugu lake, southwest China) , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 72 No. 1 (2013)
- Stephan Hilgert, Friedrich Gauger, Sebastian Hölzlwimmerl, Stephan Fuchs, Development of a flexible dialysis pore water sampler placement system: easy handling and related error sources , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 74 No. 2 (2015)
- Rodrigo L. Arrieira, Geziele M. Alves, Leilane T. F. Schwind, Fabio A. Lansac-Tôha, Local factors affecting the testate amoeba community (Protozoa: Arcellinida; Euglyphida) in a neotropical floodplain , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 74 No. 3 (2015)
- Claire Archer, Paula Noble, David Kreamer, Vincenzo Piscopo, Marco Petitta, Michael R. Rosen, Simon R. Poulson, Gianluca Piovesan, Scott Mensing, Hydrochemical determination of source water contributions to Lake Lungo and Lake Ripasottile (central Italy) , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 76 No. 2 (2017)
- Nadezhda D. Gillett, Mark R. Luttenton, Alan D. Steinman, Spatial and temporal dynamics of phytoplankton communities in a Great Lakes drowned river-mouth lake (Mona Lake, USA) , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 74 No. 3 (2015)
- Nadjla Chaib, Zineb Bouhala, Lilia Fouzari, Laura Marziali, Boudjéma Samraoui, Bruno Rossaro, Environmental factors affecting the distribution of Chironomid larvae of the Seybouse wadi, North-Eastern Algeria , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 72 No. 2 (2013)
- Marta Bolgan, Emilia Chorazyczewska, Ian J. Winfield, Antonio Codarin, Joanne O'Brien, Martin Gammell, First observations of anthropogenic underwater noise in a large multi-use lake , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 75 No. 3 (2016)
<< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >>
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
