Diatom-inferred aquatic impacts of the mid-Holocene eruption of Mount Mazama, Oregon, USA

Joanne Egan (Lead / Corresponding author), Timothy E. H. Allott, Jeffrey J. Blackford

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

High-resolution diatom stratigraphies from mid-Holocene sediments taken from fringe and central locations in Moss Lake, a small lake in the foothills of the Cascade Range, Washington, have been analyzed to investigate the impacts (and duration) of tephra deposition on the aquatic ecosystem. Up to 50 mm of tephra was deposited from the climactic eruption of Mount Mazama 7958-7795 cal yr BP, with coincident changes in the aquatic ecosystem. The diatom response from both cores indicates a change in habitat type following blanket tephra deposition, with a decline in tychoplanktonic Fragilaria brevistriata and Staurosira venter and epiphytic diatom taxa indicating a reduction in aquatic macrophyte abundance. Additionally, the central core shows an increase in tychoplanktonic Aulacoseira taxa, interpreted as a response to increased silica availability following tephra deposition. Partial redundancy analysis, however, provides only limited evidence of direct effects from the tephra deposition, and only from the central core, but significant effects from underlying environmental changes associated with climatic and lake development processes. The analyses highlight the importance of duplicate analyses (fringe and central cores) and vigorous statistical analyses for the robust evaluation of aquatic ecosystem change.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)163-178
Number of pages16
JournalQuaternary Research (United States)
Volume91
Issue number1
Early online date5 Sept 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2019

Keywords

  • Diatoms
  • Holocene
  • Mazama
  • Redundancy analysis
  • Tephra impact
  • Volcano

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Earth-Surface Processes
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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