The late-quarternary salinity record of lake Frome, South Australia: evidence from Na+ in stratigraphically-preserved gypsum

doi:10.1016/0031-0182(86)90122-7

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

Volume 54, Issues 1–4, 15 May 1986, Pages 153-169

https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(86)90122-7 Get rights and content

Abstract

Traces of foreign ions are incorporated into the structure of gypsum during precipitation. The amount of foreign material included in the crystal is dependent on its concentration in the precipitating solution and therefore the trace-element composition of the gypsum can be related to the composition of brines from which it precipitated. A late-Quaternary salinity record for Lake Frome, South Australia, derived from the analysis of Na⁺ in gypsum is consistent with much of the previously inferred climatic history of southeast Australia. The record indicates three periods of lake filling at ∼ 17, 000 yr B.P., from 15,000 to 13,500 yr B.P., and from 13,000 to 11,000 yr B.P. Lake Frome was dry prior to 17,000 yr B.P., between 16,500 and 15,000 yr B.P., at ∼13,000 yr B.P., and between 6000 and 4000 yr B.P.

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Cited by (15)

Variation of gypsum morphology along deep core SG-1, western Qaidam Basin (northeastern Tibetan Plateau) and its implication to depositional environments
2017, Quaternary International
Citation Excerpt :
They affect the morphology, crystal size and the lattice parameters (Edinger, 1973; Ichikuni and Musha, 1978; Kushnir, 1980; McCaffrey et al., 1987; Franchini-Angela and Rinaudo, 1989; Guan et al., 2010; Rossi et al., 2011; Otalora and Garcia-Ruiz, 2014). These behaviors form a basis for utilizing trace element concentrations as geochemical indicators to decipher the depositional environment of the gypsum, evaluate paleosalinity, differentiate brine origin, and study the diagenetic history (Kushnir, 1980, 1981; Ullman and McLeod, 1986; Lu et al., 1997, 2002). Since gypsum is formed in a complex lacustrine environment controlled by changes in climate, the relationship amongst crystal morphology, trace elements incorporated, lattice parameters and the depositional environment is complex.
The Qaidam Basin is an arid, closed, intermontane basin located on the northern margins of the Tibetan Plateau in China. A 938.5 m-long core (SG-1), dated between ∼2.8 Ma–0.1 Ma, was obtained from the western Qaidam Basin. Gypsum is one of major evaporative minerals in the core. A total of 201 gypsum samples were selected and their crystal morphologies were carefully investigated. The crystal habits are lenticular, prismatic, tabular, twinned, stubby, and aggregate. Prismatic crystals occur in the upper 723 m, while lenticular crystals exist almost entirely in the upper 523 m. Tabular crystals are the most common morphology. The total abundance of gypsum crystal (including tabular, lenticular, and prismatic forms) tends to increase with decreasing depth. The relationship between crystal habits and depositional environments is complex, because same morphology can appear in different environments, and different morphologies can also occur in the same depositional environment. However, the occurrence of different morphologies can be attributed to the variable growth rates caused by the inhibition effect of additional cations (e.g. Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ and Sr²⁺) on particular lattice parameters and the variation in precipitation experiments.
The lattice parameters of the unit cell of gypsum, measured by X-ray diffraction method, are: a = 5.854–12.57 Å; b = 9.654–16.231 Å; and c = 5.163–14.024 Å; β = 113.54–119.88°; Volume = 601.55–712.65 Å³. The substitution of K⁺, Na⁺ and Mg²⁺ for Ca²⁺ can reduce c-axis, while Sr²⁺ can reduce a and b axes. a/c, b/c, a/b tend to increase with K⁺, Na⁺ and Mg²⁺ and decrease with Sr²⁺. The Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ and Sr²⁺ contents in gypsum show significant variability, with K/Ca molar ratios varying from 1.03 × 10⁻⁴ to 32.08 × 10⁻⁴, Mg/Ca molar ratios from 0.0023 to 0.1629, Na/Ca molar ratios from 0.031 to 0.575, and Sr/Ca molar ratios from 5.59 × 10⁻⁴ to 19.67 × 10⁻⁴. Sr²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, and K⁺ concentrations in gypsum mainly depend on growth rate and brine concentration.
Southern Hemisphere westerly wind changes during the Last Glacial Maximum: Paleo-data synthesis
2013, Quaternary Science Reviews
Changes in the strength and position of Southern Hemisphere westerly winds during the Last Glacial cycle have been invoked to explain both millennial and glacial–interglacial climate fluctuations. However, neither paleo models nor paleodata agree on the magnitude, or even the sign, of the change in wind strength and latitude during the most studied glacial period, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), compared to the recent past. This paper synthesizes paleo-environmental data that have been used to infer changes in LGM winds. Data compilations are provided for changes in terrestrial moisture, dust deposition, sea surface temperatures and ocean fronts, and ocean productivity, and existing data on Southern Hemisphere ocean circulation changes during the LGM are summarized. We find that any hypothesis of LGM wind and climate change needs to provide a plausible explanation for increased moisture on the west coast of continents, cooler temperatures and higher productivity in the Subantarctic Zone, and reductions in Agulhas leakage around southern Africa. Our comparison suggests that an overall strengthening, an equatorward displacement, or no change at all in winds could all be interpreted as consistent with observations. If a single cause related to the southern westerlies is sought for all the evidence presented, then an equatorward displacement or strengthening of the winds would be consistent with the largest proportion of the observations. However, other processes, such as weakening or poleward shifts in winds, a weakened hydrological cycle, extended sea-ice cover, and changed buoyancy fluxes, cannot be ruled out as potential explanations of observed changes in moisture, surface temperature, and productivity. We contend that resolving the position and strength of westerly winds during the LGM remains elusive based on data reconstructions alone. However, we believe that these data reconstructions of environmental conditions can be used in conjunction with model simulations to identify which processes best represent westerly wind conditions during the LGM.
Late Quaternary palaeohydrological changes in the large playa Lake Frome in central Australia, recorded from the Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca in ostracod valves and biotic remains
2011, Journal of Arid Environments
Citation Excerpt :
Therefore, because the displacive gypsum crystals are post-depositional, we assume that their growth did not change the Sr/Ca of the lake waters at the time of deposition of the sediments containing the displacive gypsum. This hypothesis will be tested later on when comparing the ostracod shell composition results against the analyses done by Ullman and McLeod (1986) and Ullman and Collerson (1994) on the gypsum crystals. This relationship has been used here to reconstruct environmental changes recognised in the core.
The last 42,000 years of hydrological history of Lake Frome, a large playa located in the arid part of northern South Australia, which is hypersaline and most often dry today, is reconstructed using a combination of ostracod assemblages, other microfossil remains, and the trace elemental composition of the selected halobiont ostracod species of Diacypris and Reticypris.
The Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca of ostracod valves from 2 cores relate to significant hydrological changes that affected the lake over time. The reconstruction of the Sr/Ca of the lake’s waters, based on the Sr/Ca of ostracod shells, shows that when the lake fills the waters originate mostly from runoff, not from hypersaline waters located below the lake or the surrounding aquifers. The Last Glacial Maximum saw gypsum deflation from the lake.
Prior to 25K yBP, Frome had a stable hydrological regime, permanent water and low salinities, with occasional freshwater conditions between 42 and 33K yBP. From 25 to 20.3K yBP, salinities fluctuated and ephemeral conditions operated. After that, until ∼14.8K yBP, a brine pool was located below the lake and was therefore under a different hydrological regime. Between 13 and 11.2K yBP, wet conditions occurred, but such conditions were not seen again during the Holocene.
Hydroclimatic interpretation of Quaternary shorelines on South Australian playas
1998, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
The catchment of Lake Eyre is one of the world's largest internally drained basins. The playas near its depocentre, the driest region of Australia, contain a partial record of Quaternary climatic and hydrologic events for the last full glacial cycle, and probably beyond. Ancient beach-ridges marginal to lakes Eyre, Frome, Callabonna and Blanche have been dated using thermoluminescence (TL) to provide evidence for major changes in the hydrological regime of the basin. Beach ridges around Lake Eyre provide evidence of high-lake stands up to 27 m above the present lake floor during what probably corresponds to the middle to latter part of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 5. There is evidence also for even higher lake stands associated with earlier isotope stages. Three TL dates identify a period of aeolian activity during Stage 4 and a further 5 TL dates from lakes Eyre and Frome indicate that high lake stands occurred between about 55 and 40 ka, corresponding with Stage 3. The Stage 5 and Stage 3 high stands both relate to periods of enhanced fluvial activity previously identified in the Lake Eyre basin and elsewhere in Australia. In contradiction with other work, a few TL dates from some playas suggest a possible major episode of high lake levels immediately preceding or at the start of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (26–22 ka). This may relate to a sharp temperature suppression and an increase in runoff by rivers fed from monsoons in the north. While a set of relatively low-elevation late Holocene beaches have been dated on two of the playas, a period of enhanced precipitation and stream flow in the early to mid-Holocene appears not to have formed higher beaches, possibly due to high temperatures and evaporation rates at that time. The filling of Lake Eyre during and since Stage 5 appears to have been to no more than to a level of ∼12 m Australian height datum (AHD), possibly due a spillway at about this elevation in the form of the Warrawoocara Channel connecting Lake Eyre with playas to the southeast (lakes Gregory, Blanche, Callabonna and Frome). Such overflows from one large basin to another would have had a major impact on the hydrology of the region. In addition to enhanced runoff, essential for the maintenance of high lake levels must have been local temperatures and evaporation rates significantly reduced from present day levels.
Late Quaternary lake-level changes and climates of Australia
1993, Quaternary Science Reviews
Spatial and temporal patterns in lake-level data from 38 sites in Australia and Papua New Guinea provide a basis for reconstructing changes in water balance and atmospheric circulation during the past 30,000 years. The reconstructions are consistent with hydrological changes inferred from pollen analysis and palaeowind directions inferred from dunes. Generally wetter conditions between 30,000 and 24,000 BP are consistent with a strong Walker Circulation with the STA near its present position. General aridity at the glacial maximum until 12,000 BP with higher than present lake levels in the southeastern interior of Australia, implies that the southern margin of the subtropical anticyclone belt was expanded southward and the southern Westerlies were correspondingly displaced. This southward shift appears in all GCM simulations of the 18,000 BP climate and may be a result of the increased vigour of the northern hemisphere circulation. A northward migration of the belt of high lake levels between 11,000 and 6000 BP suggests that the STA shifted back equatorward to north of its present position. Relaxation to modern conditions occurred after 6000 BP interrupted by an unexplained dry phase (6000-5000 BP) in Tasmania and Queensland.
Chapter 3 Depositional Environments of Non-Marine Evaporites
1991, Developments in Sedimentology
This chapter summarizes the sedimentary characteristics of non-marine environments. Non-marine evaporite deposits are common features of modern arid closed basins, but relatively few have been recognized in the geologic record. These evaporites are important because their depositional setting reflects both climatic and tectonic conditions and they may contain economically important mineral resources. Most modern non-marine evaporites and almost all ancient non-marine evaporates occur in saline lake deposits or their associated facies. The term saline lake includes perennial lake, ephemeral lake, playa-lake, playa, salina, salar, chott, salt pan, inland sabkha, and any other terms used to refer to areas that, at least intermittently, hold standing bodies of water. The general distribution of modern non-marine evaporites is shown in a diagram and references are presented in a table in the chapter. The distinction between marine and non-marine evaporites is not trivial and many ancient evaporites that are literally assumed to be marine may be, at least in part, non-marine in origin Furthermore, some of the deposits interpreted as non-marine may actually be marine (for instance, the evaporites of the Precambrian McArthur Basin, Australia).

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¹: Present address: Chemistry Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Ave., Argonne IL 60439 (U.S.A.)

²: Present address: Chemistry Department, University of Waikato, Private Bag, Hamilton (New Zealand).

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The late-quarternary salinity record of lake Frome, South Australia: evidence from Na+ in stratigraphically-preserved gypsum

Abstract

J. Hydrol.

Quat. Res.

Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol.

Sediment. Geol.

Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol.

Anal. Chim. Acta

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Quat. Res.

J. Hydrol.

J. Hydrol.

Fluctuation in the level of pluvial Lake Lahontan during the last 40,000 yrs

Quat. Res.

Pleistocene salinities and climatic change: Evidence from lakes and lunettes in south-eastern Australia

Late Quaternary stratigraphy and radiocarbon chronology of water level fluctuations in Lake Keilambete, Victoria

Nature

Quaternary evaporites and hydrologic changes, Lake Tyrrell, Australia

Aust. J. Earth Sci.

Radiocarbon dating of east African lake levels

Science

The islands of Lake Frome

Q. Notes Geol. Surv. South Aust.

Final report, exploration lease 559, Lake Frome North, South Aust. Dep. Mines

The late-quarternary salinity record of lake Frome, South Australia: evidence from Na⁺ in stratigraphically-preserved gypsum