Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Interpretation of Holocene lake-level change from diatom assemblages in Lake Sidi Ali, Middle Atlas, Morocco
AU - Barker, Philip
AU - Roberts, N.
AU - Lamb, H. F.
AU - Van Der Kaars, S.
AU - Benkaddour, A.
N1 - 1994 Interpretation of Holocene lake-level change from diatom assemblages in Lake Sidi Ali, Middle Atlas, Morocco
PY - 1994/12
Y1 - 1994/12
N2 - While palaeohydrological changes in non-outlet lakes provide a key proxy indicator of past climatic fluctuations, for lake systems which have been chemically insensitive, it is necessary to use indicators of water depth rather than salinity to reconstruct their hydro- climatic histories. A study of diatoms in the modern sediments of Sidi Ali, a non-outlet lake in the Middle Atlas of Morocco, has shown a statistically significant correlation between water depth and the ratio of planktonic to littoral diatoms. This relationship is used to calibrate fossil diatom assemblages from a lake sediment core from the same lake to provide a quantitative index of water levels over the pastc. 6500 years. Palaeoecological evidence suggests that climatically induced hydrological variations have dominated the bulk of the mid-late Holocene lake sediment record, with significant human-induced catchment disturbance only occurring during the twentieth century. The pattern of water depth fluctuations suggests that the response time of the regional groundwater system to climatic forcing is <100>
AB - While palaeohydrological changes in non-outlet lakes provide a key proxy indicator of past climatic fluctuations, for lake systems which have been chemically insensitive, it is necessary to use indicators of water depth rather than salinity to reconstruct their hydro- climatic histories. A study of diatoms in the modern sediments of Sidi Ali, a non-outlet lake in the Middle Atlas of Morocco, has shown a statistically significant correlation between water depth and the ratio of planktonic to littoral diatoms. This relationship is used to calibrate fossil diatom assemblages from a lake sediment core from the same lake to provide a quantitative index of water levels over the pastc. 6500 years. Palaeoecological evidence suggests that climatically induced hydrological variations have dominated the bulk of the mid-late Holocene lake sediment record, with significant human-induced catchment disturbance only occurring during the twentieth century. The pattern of water depth fluctuations suggests that the response time of the regional groundwater system to climatic forcing is <100>
KW - diatoms
KW - lake-level
KW - Middle Atlas
KW - Morocco
KW - Holocene
KW - Palaeohydrology
U2 - 10.1007/BF00678022
DO - 10.1007/BF00678022
M3 - Journal article
VL - 12
SP - 223
EP - 234
JO - Journal of Paleolimnology
JF - Journal of Paleolimnology
SN - 0921-2728
IS - 3
ER -