Some chemical observations on post-glacial lake sediments

作者：F. J. H. Mackereth · 发表于：Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 年份：1966 · DOI：10.1098/rstb.1966.0001 · 被引用次数：545 · 研究领域：Geology and Paleoclimatology Research、Isotope Analysis in Ecology、Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior

Abstract This paper reports the results of a somewhat exploratory investigation of the chemical composition of cores taken from the sediments of a number of lakes of the English Lake District. All the lakes studied are of glacial, and therefore presumably of synchronous, origin. The depth of post-glacial sediment varies from lake to lake but is normally between 4 and 6 m. This material, with which the paper is mainly concerned, was laid down during the biologically active phase following the end of glaciation approximately 10000 years ago. Below the organic muds of the post-glacial period, the sediment consists of glacial clays, usually varved, which pass downward into silty clays and sands the total depth of which is at present unknown. The variation in composition of the sediments with depth and therefore with time presents a pattern of change which is observed to recur in most of the lake sediments studied. This pattern of change is most strikingly seen in the variation of carbon content with depth, but related sequences of change may be observed in the distribution of major inorganic components, for example sodium, potassium and magnesium. The observed changes in composition of the sediment can most easily be explained if the sediment is regarded as a sequence of soils derived from the drainage areas of the lakes. The composition of the residues eventually reaching the lake bed can then be accounted for in terms of the rate of erosion of the drainage basin rather than in ...