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Late Quaternary environmental changes in Helambu Himal, Central Nepal, recorded in the diatom flora assemblage composition and geochemistry of Lake Panch Pokhari

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Abstract

This study presents changes in diatom flora assemblage composition, TOC, TOC/N and biogenic opal in a 450 cm core of Lake Panch Pokhari, Central Nepal (4,050 m asl), indicating Late Quaternary environmental fluctuations. Four Diatom Zones (DZ) were detected, with two major changes. The first one was found in ~430 cm depth (~14.8 cal. kyr BP), where the original flora characterized by Navicula digitulus Hustedt, Pinnularia rhombarea Krammer, P. aff. viridiformis var. minor Krammer, Encyonema silesiacum (Bleisch) D. G. Mann, Cymbopleura naviculiformis (Auerswald) Krammer and Nitzschia sp. was fully replaced by an assemblage consisting of Aulacoseira alpigena (Grunow) Krammer, Diatoma hyemalis (Roth) Heib., Tabellaria flocculosa (Ehrenberg) Kützing, Brachysira brebissonii Ross and Pinnularia subgibba Krammer, creating a stable diatom assemblage for ~8 kyr (DZ3). The second change was found at ~70 cm (~2.1 cal. kyr BP) when increased nutrient inputs lead to emergence of new taxa such as Fragilaria construens var. subsalina Hustedt, F. tenera (W. Smith) Lange-Bertalot, Eunotia cf. pseudopapilio Lange-Bertalot and M. Nörpel-Schempp and Gomphonema subclavatum Grunow. In order to evaluate the past environmental conditions in the Lake Panch Pokhari, the detected diatom taxa were subjected to analyses of their autecological preferences and dominance within the specific assemblage. We also assumed that TOC/N ratios >10 indicate accelerated erosion due to the strengthening of the Summer Monsoon starting at ~14.8 and between 13.7 and 12.8 cal. kyr BP. Monsoon intensity was most pronounced during the Early Holocene and at the beginning of the Late Holocene. The fluctuations of TOC and TOC/N in the Late Glacial sediments seem to correlate temporally and climatically with oscillations in the Northern Atlantic region.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Volkswagen Foundation (grant Az I/71665). We also thank our Nepalese colleagues, especially Dr. Krishna Kharki and Rajendra Uprety for collaboration during project preparation and fieldwork. T. Gonder analysed TOC, N and biogenic opal and T. Engelbrecht prepared the Figs. 1, 2 and 6. We are also indebted for many valuable recommendations of two anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, “St. Cyril and Methodius” University, 1000, Skopje, Macedonia

    Svetislav S. Krstić

  2. Soil Science and Soil Geography, University of Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Wolfgang Zech

  3. Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia

    Igor Obreht & Slobodan B. Marković

  4. LAPER, Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 2, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia

    Zorica Svirčev

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  1. Svetislav S. Krstić
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Correspondence to Svetislav S. Krstić.

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Krstić, S.S., Zech, W., Obreht, I. et al. Late Quaternary environmental changes in Helambu Himal, Central Nepal, recorded in the diatom flora assemblage composition and geochemistry of Lake Panch Pokhari. J Paleolimnol 47, 113–124 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-011-9563-4

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