Tracing rate and extent of human-induced hypoxia during the last 200 years in the mesotrophic lake, Tiefer See (NE Germany)

Abstract

The global spread of lake hypoxia, [O2] < 2 mg L−1, during the last 2 centuries has had a severe impact on ecological systems and sedimentation processes. While the occurrence of hypoxia was observed in many lakes, a detailed quantification of hypoxia spread at centennial timescales remained largely unquantified. We track the evolution of hypoxia and its controls during the past 200 years in a lake, Tiefer See (TSK; NE Germany), using 17 gravity cores recovered from between 10 and 62 m water depth in combination with lake monitoring data. Lake hypoxia was associated with the onset of varve preservation in the TSK and has been dated by varve counting to 1918 ± 1 at 62 m water depth and reached a lake floor depth of 16 m in 1997 ± 1. This indicates that oxygen concentration fell below the threshold for varve preservation at the lake floor (> 16 m). Sediment cores at 10–12 m depth do not contain varves indicating good oxygenation of the upper-water column. Monitoring data show that the threshold for hypoxia, and the intensity and duration of hypoxia which are sufficient for varve preservation, is a period of 5 months of [O2] < 5 mg L−1 and 2 months of [O2] < 2 mg L−1. Detailed total organic carbon (TOC), δ13Corg, and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning analyses of the short cores indicate that the decline in dissolved oxygen (DO) started several decades prior to the varve preservation. This proves a change in the depositional conditions in the lake, following a transition phase of several decades during which varves were not preserved. Furthermore, varve preservation does occur at seasonal stratification and does not necessarily require permanent stratification.