The Sedimentary Record of the Eutrophication of Lake Washington* (Diatoms/Oscillatoria/Oscillaxanthin/Paleolimnology/Scanning Electron Microscopy)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 71, No. 12, pp. 5093-5095, December 1974 Symposium The Sedimentary Record of the Eutrophication of Lake Washington* (diatoms/Oscillatoria/oscillaxanthin/paleolimnology/scanning electron microscopy) W. T. EDMONDSON Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash. 98196 ABSTRACT Lake Washington changed in productivity, The interpretation of changes in all these properties is abundance of organisms, and chemical character as a critically dependent on knowing the rate of sedimentation result of enrichment with sewage effluent and subsequent Therefore, we need to improve both the time diversion of the effluent. A record of many of the changes (mm/year). is left in the sediments in the form of concentrations of scale and the detail with which we can describe the vertical specific elements or compounds and recognizable remains changes in recognizable microfossils. The precision is limited of organisms, especially diatoms. The vertical distribution by the fact that the cores must be cut in slices of sufficient of diatoms in dried cores of sediment can be determined The thin- with considerable precision with scanning electron micros- thickness to provide enough material for analysis. 5 and copy. Such data provide information about the character nest we have been able to wcrk with effectively is mm, of the lake before limnological studies were made. for some purposes 10 mm is necessary. A given slice will usually cover a period of more than 1 year, of unknown start- Lake Washington went through an episode of enrichment ing and ending dates. The mean rate of sedimentation since with secondary sewage effluent between 1941 and 1968, with 1916 is determinable by the fact that a Canal from Lake the maximum in 1963. The progressive large changes in addi- Washington to Puget Sound was opened in that year and the tion of nutrients to the lake were accompanied by changes in productivity, in the abundance of phytoplankton, and in the proportions of species, with consequent changes in trans- parency (1). In 1964 the mean volume of algae in the open PHOSPHORUS (ug-mg- of dry weight) 0 2 4 6 water during the summer was 20 times that in 1950, and the ..-...--- --- -.... transparency only about a third as great. The total phos- CORE 49A - --8 phorus concentration of the surface water in 1964 was 3.7 1972 ° ' 0- - - times as high as in 1933. The diversion of sewage resulted ~ from a remarkable public action (2, 3). In effect, we had a large 10- scale experiment in lake fertilization that has been useful in CORE A providing information about the role of the nutrient income of 1958 a lake as part of the mechanism that controls its productivity F- and the character of its population. 20- The experience can also contribute to our knowledge of the z way in which the sediments of a lake record the history of changing conditions in the water above. I am studying the LLI sediments of Lake Washington as a record of the period of en- I richment, measuring appropriate chemical properties and looking for identifiable remains of organisms whose presence or in is informative of environmental abundance the sediments z 40- conditions existing when they were alive. For example, the phosphorus content of the sediment has a maximum concen- tration now a few centimeters below the surface, at a level cor- responding to the surface during the period of enrichment. (Fig. 1 and ref. 4). The existence of Oscillatoria rubescens and 50 Oscillatoria agardhii, two species of blue-green algae char- FIG. L Vertical distribution of total phosphorus in two cores acteristic of eutrophicated lakes, is recorded by the carotenoid taken in the same location about 14 years apart. Phosphorus was oscillaxanthin in the top 10 cm or so of sediment (5). Oscil- determined after perchloric acid digestion and is expressed per latoria has been generally decreasing in abundance in the unit dry weight of sediment. The vertical displacement of the plankton, and the present surface sediments are almost devoid two lines was arranged to bring together the minimum values of oscillaxanthin (Mary Griffiths, personal communication). that are associated with the redeposition of material when the The proportions of species of diatoms change with depth in level of the lake was lowered in 1916. Accumulation of new relation to the changes in nutrient income (6). sediment is 7 cm. Core A was taken on 7 May 1958, Core 49A (0- -0) on 6 July 1972 at Madison Park. For details of location of station and other cores, see ref. 4. Note that the * This paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Na- top layer of each core (6 ..... 0 and 0 ..... 0) consists of tional Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. on April 22-24, freshly deposited material not completely decomposed. It appears 1974. It was presented in the session composed of Invited Papers that the period of enrichment will be memorialized by a distinct Mainly on the Social Sciences. Maximum OD the phosphorus curve in the future. 5093 Downloaded by guest on September 26, 2021 5094 Symposium: Edmondson Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 71 (1974) FIG. 2. Scanning electron micrographs of fresh plankton and of sediment from Lake Washington. (A) General view of fresh plankton sample taken on 28 February 1974. Most prominent species: Fragilaria crotonensis (double toothed comb). Melosira italica (pipe), Stephano- discus niagarae (drum), and Asterionellaformosa (star shaped group). (B) Melosira italica in the same sample as A. (C) Portions of Melosira italica in surface sediment taken 18 January 1974. This sample had been treated for 1.5 hr with 1 N KOH. "Alkali soluble silica" is some- times used as an index of abundance of diatoms, in contrast to crystalline mineral particles, but this species seems especially resistant to the treatment. (D) Stephanodiscus niagarae in the same sample as A. Also shown are Stephanodiscus astraea in left background, Asteri- onella formosa, Fragilaria crotonensis, and AMelosira italica. (E) Sediment from a depth of about 5 cm in Core 52 taken on 17 July 1973. Stephanodiscus niagarae and Fragilaria crotonensis are the most prominent species. (F) Same sediment as in C, showing predominance of mineral particles with some fragments of diatoms. The width of each sample in ,um is: A, 575; B, 58; C, 23; D, 192; E, 38; F, 23. level of the Lake was lowered by 3.3 m. Erosion of exposed bands consist almost entirely of diatoms, and the darker material and redeposition presumably made a layer of sedi- bands, while containing diatoms, have much mineral material ment with more silt than usual, and this is easily visible in the in addition. x-radiographs. Application of a dating technique using radium The persistence of the bands shows that the sediments have and 210Pb is providing improved knowledge of the rate of not been greatly stirred or disturbed. Thus, the depth scale is sedimentation at different times in the past (W. R. Schell, related to a time scale, and the core is a diary of the deposition personal communication). of particulate materials. Of the particles that can be seen with The application of scanning electron microscopy offers an the scanning electron microscope, the diatoms are the most improvement in the detail of specifying the vertical distribu- easily recognizable and the most informative of changes in the tion of microfossils and at the same time has the possibility of lake. developing a very precise time scale because some of the For the study of the vertical distribution of diatoms with organisms vary greatly in abundance each year, and the input scanning electron microscopy, cores have been taken with a of clay and silt varies greatly during the year. Both tend to Shapiro piston corer (4) in 35-mm plastic tubes and permitted produce sediment with vertical variation in the relative to dry in the tube, being warmed from above with a lamp. abundance of different kinds of particles. When still slightly damp, cores are removed and sliced verti- Although the recent sediments of Lake Washington are cally. A portion is cut into blocks 2 cm long, and mounted on not visibly varved, prominent laminations appear in the top 10 aluminum plates. The blocks are coated with carbon, gold, or 15 cm of x-radiographs of cores (7). In deeper sediment, and palladium, and a series of overlapping pictures is taken some laminations appear, but are much less prominent. As along the midline of each block, producing a strip like an the cores are dried, several white or light gray bands appear, aerial mosaic from one flight line. alternating with darker gray or brownish bands. The white Diatoms that are common in the plankton are easily seen Downloaded by guest on September 26, 2021 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 71 (1974) Symposium: Sedimentation in Lake Washington 5095 and identified in the sediments. While some frustuke. *-& Tbe, seanning electron microscope pictures were taken by fragmented, many are essentially entire, and even some of the YorkI Tsukada, Help was provided with various aspects of the can be identifiedidentifed or 'atat least asas being work by Julie Bailey-Brock David E. and Sally Bartley. fragmentsfragmentcanbercogGenerousrecognized beemg*'financial support was providedAllisonby the National Science parts of diatoms (Fig. 2). The layers of diatoms in the upper Foundation. part appear to correspond to their annual growth in the spring of each year during the period of sewage enrichment of . .Edrrondson,. W. T. (1972) "N'utrients and in the lake. their lack of prominence in deeper sediments pre- Lake Washington," in Nutrients *and eutrophication,phytoplanktoned. sumably relates to the lesser production..~~~~~~~~~~~~and deposition before Likens, G. (American Society of Limnology and Ocean- the lake was enriched; nevertheless,,.