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This study aims to reconstruct the hydro-climatic variations over the last 1000 yrs in Haiti using mineralogical and geochemical composition of well dated lacustrine sediment core retrieved from Lake Azuei. The results show changes in sedimentological processes linked to environmental and climatic variations. The general pattern suggests a wetter Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), drier Little Ice Age (LIA), high climate variability during the MCA-LIA transition and more anthropogenic impacts that dominate natural climate during the Current Warm Period (CWP). The MCA period (~1000–1100 CE) thus appears marked by increase sedimentation rate supported by higher terrigenous input linked to erosive events and consequently increases in precipitation. During the LIA, particularly from ~1450 CE to 1600 CE, there is a great variation towards a decrease of terrigenous input, which is related to a decrease on sedimentation rate and increase Mg-calcite precipitation, suggesting less precipitation and high evaporation respectively during dry climate conditions. The MCA-LIA transition (~1200–1400 CE) is characterized by variations between terrigenous input, Mg-calcite neoformation and organic matter deposition, which indicate succession of dry and humid conditions. The CWP (1800–2000 CE) shows a progressive increase on sedimentation rate and decrease of grey level, which indicate more organic matter sedimentation as consequence of anthropogenic activities in the surrounding basin of the lake. High-resolution grey level analysis, which reflects principally variations in terrigenous input, carbonate mineral neoformation and organic matter deposition, shows that the AMO, NAO, PDO and ENSO are the principal modes affecting the hydro-climatic changes in Haiti during the last millennium. In addition, temporal correlation of other Caribbean paleoclimate records with our geochemical and mineralogical data, suggests that trends observed in Lake Azuei were controlled by regional climate, likely associated with shifts in the position of the ITCZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Sediment cores were taken at three locations in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA in 1997 and analyzed for a variety of organic contaminants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlordanes, linear alkyl benzenes (LABs), benzotriazoles (BZTs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and metabolites. The distributions of these chemicals at Apponaug Cove and in the Seekonk River indicate that there was a disturbance in the depositional environment relative to cores collected at these locations in 1986 demonstrating the potential for buried contaminants to be remobilized in the environment even after a period of burial. Sharp breaks in the concentration of several organic markers with known dates of introduction were successfully used to determine the sedimentation rate at Quonset Point. Both the Quonset Point and Seekonk River cores had subsurface maximums for DDTs, PCBs, PAHs and BZTs, which are consistent with expected inputs to the environment. The Apponaug Cove core showed an increase of most contaminants at the surface indicating a recent event in which more contaminated sediments were deposited at that location. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in 41 surface sediments from Narragansett Bay, RI. All the analytes generally decrease down bay from the Seekonk, Providence and Taunton Rivers at the head of the bay. Total PAHs ranged from 0.569 to 216 μg/g with 27% exceeding the effects range median (ERM) of 44.8 μg/g and 73% of the stations exceeding the effects range low (ERL) of 4.02 μg/g ().Based on principal component analysis, the major source of the contaminants in Narragansett Bay was the Providence River while the coves and Taunton River/Mt. Hope Bay appeared to only have a limited influence on the open bay. PAH source ratios indicate that creosote and/or coal may be the most significant contributor of pyrogenic high molecular weight PAHs in Narragansett Bay, along with significant contributions from diesel exhaust. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study documents the history of pollution inputs in the Burlington region of Lake Champlain, Vermont using measurements of anthropogenic metals (Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb, Cd, and Ag) in four age-dated sediment cores. Sediments record a history of contamination in a region and can be used to assess the changing threat to biota over time and to evaluate the effectiveness of discharge regulations on anthropogenic inputs. Grain size, magnetic susceptibility, radiometric dating and pollen stratigraphy were combined with trace metal data to provide an assessment of the history of contamination over the last 350 yr in the Burlington region of Lake Champlain. Magnetic susceptibility was initially used to identify land-use history for each site because it is a proxy indicator of soil erosion. Historical trends in metal inputs in the Burlington region from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries are reflected in downcore variations in metal concentrations and accumulation rates. Metal concentrations increase above background values in the early to mid nineteenth century. The metal input rate to the sediments increases around 1920 and maximum concentrations and accumulation rates are observed in the late 1960s. Decreases in concentration and accumulation rate between 1970 and the present are observed for most metals. The observed trends are primarily a function of variations in anthropogenic inputs and not variations in sediment grain size. Grain size data were used to remove texture variations from the metal profiles and results show trends in the anthropogenic metal signals remain. Radiometric dating and pollen stratigraphy provide well-constrained dates for the sediments thereby allowing the metal profiles to be interpreted in terms of land-use history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogenic silica contents of sediments on the lower Selenga Delta and Buguldeika saddle in Lake Baikal show distinct fluctuations that reflect changes in diatom productivity, and ultimately, climate. The pattern of the upper 50 m of the section, dating from about 334 ka, is similar to that of the marine oxygen-isotope record, increasingly so as the younger sediments become progressively finer grained and less locally derived with time. The last two interglaciations are marked by biogenic silica abundances similar to those of the Holocene. The equivalent of marine oxygen-isotope stage 3 is distinctly intermediate in character between full glacial and full interglacial biogenic silica values. Following near-zero values during the last glacial maximum, biogenic silica began to increase at about 13 ka. The rise in biogenic silica to Holocene values was interrupted by an abrupt decrease during Younger Dryas time, about 11 to 10 14C ka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Results from the first high-resolution, single-channel seismic-reflection survey of tropical Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana, and sedimentological data from a 14C-dated sediment piston core were used to revise and extend the basin''s late-Quaternary lake level history. We report four seismic sequence boundaries and an exposure surface from a sediment core, which are interpreted as erosional surfaces formed at times of drastic low lake level. The youngest erosional surface occurs as much as 31 m below present lake level (bpll) and up to 0.7 m below the present sediment–water interface. This most recent unconformity observed in the seismic data is interpreted to be coeval with the basin-wide late-Holocene dry period between 0.5 and 1 cal ky BP (calendar years before present). Another exposure surface observed in a sediment core is based on an abrupt contact separating low density, wet, clay rich sediments from underlying high density, compact, silt-rich and rootlet-rich sediments, and is interpreted to have developed prior to 16.8 cal ky BP when the lake was ∼60 m bpll. Three older, erosional surfaces occur at depths of ∼92±3, 102±3, and 107±4 m bpll, suggesting numerous lowstands in Lake Bosumtwi during the late-Pleistocene. By extrapolation of average sedimentation rates (0.41 m/ky) from the upper ∼10.5 m of sediment, we estimate the ages of these older lowstands to be ∼65, ∼86, ∼108 cal ky BP. The lowstands of Lake Bosumtwi evidenced from the seismic and sediment core data are interpreted as a response to increased aridity in this part of the equatorial tropics and may correlate to other observed continent-wide shifts in African climate over the past 100 ky, and possibly to rapid climatic shifts observed at high latitudes. Determining the precise timing of these lowstands will ultimately reveal much about the drought dynamics of tropical and subtropical Africa. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cesium-137 derived from the explosion of the Chernobyl reactor in 1986 was preserved in anoxic sediments from a coastal environment in southern Rhode Island. Although the radioactive plume was detected in surface air samples at several locations in the United States, this is the first known record of a Chernobyl 137Cs peak in sediments from North America. The inventory of Chernobyl 137Cs that was preserved in the Pettaquamscutt River is small compared to European counterparts and should only be detectable for the next 15–20 yr. However, the presence of two 137Cs peaks (1963 and 1987) identifies a well-dated segment of the sediment column that could be exploited in understanding the decomposition and preservation of terrestrial and aquatic organic matter. Different methods for calculating the 210Pb chronology were also evaluated in this study and checked against independent varve counting. The end result is a detailed chronology of a site well suited for reconstruction of historical records of environmental change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were evaluated in 41 surface sediments collected from Narragansett Bay, RI in 1997–1998. Highest concentrations of total PCBs (1760 ng/g) were in rivers at the head of the bay and the values decreased southward toward the mouth of the bay, with elevated concentrations in some of the coves. The PCB levels in ∼43% of the samples exceeded the effects range median (ERM) guideline [Environ. Manage. 19 (1995) 81] indicating possible adverse biological effects at these stations.Principal component analysis (PCA) of the surface sediment PCBs separated the Taunton River samples from the rest of the samples. This result suggests that this river has a different PCB composition and sources than the other areas investigated. It also showed that this river has a limited influence on other bay stations as the adjacent samples downstream did not have the same chemical signature. Congener ratios derived from the PCA were useful in distinguishing stations that had different sources of PCBs than the bulk of the bay sediments. Although Aroclor 1268 and 1270 accounted for <1% of all PCB production, their major components, CB206 and CB209, account for 3–6% of the CBs in most bay samples. This may reflect more local use of these Aroclor mixtures and/or be indicative of their relative stability, compared to less chlorinated mixtures.Using linear alkyl benzenes (LABs) as a marker for sewage derived PCBs suggested that up to 95% of the PCBs at the most contaminated sites in the Seekonk, Providence, and Taunton Rivers were sewage derived. This analysis also showed that there is a high background level (167 ng/g) of PCBs in the Seekonk and Providence River, while the Taunton River had a relatively low background level (23.7 ng/g). At the furthest stations south in the Providence River, the sewage derived PCBs only accounted for 23% of the total which suggests that PCB associated with sewage particles are rapidly deposited and are therefore not the most significant source of these compounds to the lower reaches of Narragansett Bay. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]