Specific blue‐green algal carotenoids in sediments of Esthwaite Water
Open Access
- 1 July 1978
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Limnology and Oceanography
- Vol. 23 (4) , 777-784
- https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1978.23.4.0777
Abstract
Two cores from Esthwaite Water have been analyzed for oscillaxanthin, derived from Oscillatoria alone, and myxoxanthophyll found only in blue‐green algae. Myxoxanthophyll profiles are similar for the two cores with maxima at 6–7 cm and 14–16 cm and low values in the top 5 cm and below 17–19 cm. Oscillaxanthin follows the same general pattern but without pronounced maxima. Such profiles can be used to indicate the appearance of Oscillatoria and other blue‐green algae in a lake, and indirectly, the onset of eutrophication.Raw data for the blue‐green algae present in the lake between 1948 and 1976 have been analyzed. When the years of maximal algal counts in the lake are correlated with the depths of myxoxanthophyll maxima in the sediment, an annual sedimentation rate for the top 15 cm of 0.6 cm · yr−1 is obtained, which agrees quite well with results by other methods.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: