Chironomid δ18O as a proxy for past lake water δ18O: a Lateglacial record from Rotsee (Switzerland)

Verbruggen, Frederike; Heiri, Oliver; Reichart, Gert‐Jan; Lotter, André F.

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.05.030

Cited by 40 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The site had previously been studied for δ 18 O of lacustrine carbonates and, as a consequence, past variations in δ 18 O of the water in Rotsee were relatively well constrained. Verbruggen et al (2010b) were able to show that chironomid δ 18 O closely followed the expected trends in lake water δ 18 O inferred from the lacustrine carbonate record (Figure 5b). Minor differences in variations of δ 18 O between the two records were to be expected since δ 18 O of precipitating Figure 5.…”

Section: Down-core Recordssupporting

confidence: 53%

“…These results suggest that chironomid δ 18 O should perhaps best be attempted without any chemical pretreatment of the fossils. However, in a second study Verbruggen et al (2010b) showed that chironomid fossils prepared for δ 18 O analyses may be contaminated by residual carbonate matter, especially if they originate from sediments with a high carbonate content such as lake marls. They demonstrated that these residual carbonates interfere with δ 18 O measurement and, in an experiment with isotopically heavy water, showed that acid treatment can affect δ 18 O of chironomid cuticles.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They demonstrated that these residual carbonates interfere with δ 18 O measurement and, in an experiment with isotopically heavy water, showed that acid treatment can affect δ 18 O of chironomid cuticles. Verbruggen et al (2010b) instead recommend treatment with buffered 2M NH4Cl solution to dissolve residual carbonates at a pH of 7.5. Van Hardenbroek et al (2010) tested the effects of a number of pretreatment methods on δ 13 C of chironomid cuticles, including exposure to 10% KOH, 10% HCl, and 40% HF solution, and a mixed procedure with accelerated solvent extraction followed by a treatment with sodium chlorite and glacial acetic acid (Figure 1b).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a different study Verbruggen et al (2010b) examined δ 18 O of the remains of chironomid larvae preserved in lateglacial sediments from Rotsee, Switzerland. The site had previously been studied for δ 18 O of lacustrine carbonates and, as a consequence, past variations in δ 18 O of the water in Rotsee were relatively well constrained.…”

Section: Down-core Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Stable isotopic analysis of fossil chironomids as an approach to environmental reconstruction: state of development and future challenges

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

. 2012. Stable isotopic analysis of fossil chironomids as an approach to environmental reconstruction: state of development and future challenges. Fauna norvegica 31: 7-18.Remains of chironomid larvae, especially their strongly sclerotized head capsules, can be found abundantly and well preserved in most lake sediment records. These remains mainly consist of chitin and proteins and, since their chemical composition does not seem to be strongly affected by decompositional processes, they can be used to develop palaeoenvironmental reconstructions based on their stable isotopic composition. Here we review available stable isotope studies based on fossil chironomids and indicate future research necessary to further develop this still relatively new research approach. Efforts to produce stable isotope records based on fossil chironomids have mainly examined the elements H, N, C, and O. They have focussed on (1) developing the methodology for preparing samples for isotopic analysis, (2) laboratory studies cultivating chironomid larvae under controlled conditions to determine the factors affecting their stable isotopic composition, (3) ecosystem-scale studies relating stable isotopic measurements of fossil chironomid assemblages to environmental conditions, and (4) developing first down-core records describing past changes in the stable isotopic composition of chironomid assemblages. These studies have shown that chemical sample pretreatment may affect the isotopic composition for some elements. Laboratory runs suggest that the diet of the larvae influences their stable isotopic composition for H, N, C and O, whereas stable isotopes in the ambient water also strongly influence their oxygen and to a lesser extent hydrogen isotopic composition. These experiments also indicate only minor offsets between the nitrogen and carbon isotopic composition of chironomid soft tissue and the fossilizing head capsules, whereas for hydrogen and oxygen this offset remains to be explored. Though few datasets have been published, the available ecosystem studies and developed down-core sediment records indicate that stable isotopes in chironomid remains have the potential to provide reconstructions of past climatic change (H, O) and insights into past food web structure, methane production and pollution of lake ecosystems (N, C). Future efforts will be necessary to develop these approaches including more detailed analyses of the effects of sample pretreatment on stable isotope measurements on chitinous fossils, more extensive laboratory studies constraining the effects of external factors (e.g., isotopic composition of food and ambient water, temperature) on stable isotopes in chironomid larvae, and surveys exploring seasonal changes in the isotopic composition of chironomid larvae and assessing how this seasonality influences fossil assemblages. Finally, multi-site field studies relating chironomid δD, δ 15 N, δ 13 C and δ 18 O to parameters such as δ 18 O of precipitation, air and water temperatures, and nutrient and greenhouse gas conc...

show abstract

Section: Down-core Recordssupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Down-core Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Stable isotopic analysis of fossil chironomids as an approach to environmental reconstruction: state of development and future challenges

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The stable isotopic composition of organic matter in lake sediments can provide information on past changes in climate, productivity, origin of organic matter, pollution and in-lake carbon cycling Verbruggen et al 2010b). The stable carbon isotopes composition (δ 13 C) of bulk organic matter can be interpreted as an integrated estimate of the δ 13 C value of different organic matter sources in a lake and its catchment .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable carbon isotopes of invertebrate remains: do they reveal past methane release from lakes?

Hardenbroek

2012

Quaternary International

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Younger Dryas – early Holocene transition in the south‐eastern Iberian Peninsula: insights from land snail shell middens

Yanes

Gómez‐Puche

Esquembre-Bebia

et al. 2013

J Quaternary Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The land snail Sphincterochila candidissima from archeological records in Villena (SE Spain) was studied isotopically to estimate the Younger Dryas (YD)-early Holocene transition in the western Mediterranean. Live-collected individuals exhibited body (À21.8 AE 1.6%) and shell (À5.8 AE 1.4%) d 13 C values typical of a C 3 plant diet, probably combined with carbonate ingestion. Calculations of a carbon flux balance-mixing model suggest that living specimens experienced similar metabolic rates, with comparable ratio of input and output fluxes of bicarbonate from the snail hemolymph. All fossil shells showed comparable d 13 C values among each other, but values were $2% higher than living specimens. This may be explained by higher water stress at the YD-Holocene transition or by the Suess effect. Shell d 18 O values averaged þ1.3 AE 0.8% for living individuals, À0.5 AE 0.8% for Holocene (8.4-10.2 cal ka BP) specimens and þ0.4 AE 0.6% for YD (12.0-12.4 cal ka BP) snails. An oxygen flux balance-mixing model suggests that YD shells precipitated during relative humidity (RH) values of $79-82%, after which RH increased gradually reaching maximum values of $87-88% at $8.4-8.6 cal ka BP and, from there, RH eventually declined to present values of $82%. Comparisons with other snail data suggest that the xerophilous Sphincterochila records different environmental signatures fro other contemporaneous taxa.

show abstract

Chironomid δ18O as a proxy for past lake water δ18O: a Lateglacial record from Rotsee (Switzerland)

Cited by 40 publications

References 52 publications

Stable isotopic analysis of fossil chironomids as an approach to environmental reconstruction: state of development and future challenges

Stable isotopic analysis of fossil chironomids as an approach to environmental reconstruction: state of development and future challenges

Stable carbon isotopes of invertebrate remains: do they reveal past methane release from lakes?

Younger Dryas – early Holocene transition in the south‐eastern Iberian Peninsula: insights from land snail shell middens

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About