Environmental changes in northern New Zealand since the Middle Holocene inferred from stable isotope records (δ 15 N, δ 13 C) of Lake Pupuke

Author： Heyng Alexander

Publisher： Springer Publishing Company

ISSN： 0921-2728

Source： Journal of Paleolimnology, Vol.48, Iss.2, 2012-08, pp. : 351-366

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Abstract

Maar lakes in the Auckland Volcanic Field are important high-resolution archives of Holocene environmental change in the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were applied on bulk organic matter and the green alga Botryococcus from a sediment core from Lake Pupuke (Auckland, North Island, New Zealand) spanning the period since 7,165 cal. year BP. The origin of organic matter was established using total-organic-carbon-to-nitrogen ratios (TOC/TN) as well as organic carbon (δ¹³C_OM) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope composition of potential modern sources. This approach demonstrated that the contribution of allochthonous organic matter to the lake sediment was negligible for most of the record. The sedimentary TOC/TN ratios that are higher than Redfield ratio (i.e. >7) are attributed to N-limiting conditions throughout the record. Variations of nitrogen and carbon isotopes during the last 7,165 years are interpreted as changes in the dominant processes in the lake. While epilimnetic primary productivity controlled isotope composition before 6,600 cal. year BP, microbial processes, especially denitrification and methane oxidation, caused overall shifts of the δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values since the Mid-Holocene. Comparisons with climate reconstructions from the Northern Island suggest that changes in the wind-induced lake overturn and a shift to more pronounced seasonality were the most likely causes for lake-internal changes since 6,600 cal. year BP.