Silicon isotope records of recent environmental change and anthropogenic pollution from Lake Baikal, Siberia
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Geography
Abstract
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest lake lying in a rift zone in south eastern Siberia (103o43'-109o58'E and 51o28'-55o47'N) that began to form over 20 million years ago. As well as being the world's deepest and most voluminous, the lake also acts as a major water resource containing c. 20% of global surface freshwater. A key feature of Lake Baikal is the high degree of biodiversity with over 2,500 flora and fauna, the majority of which are endemic. Such high levels of endemicity have led to the lake being cited as the "most outstanding example of a freshwater ecosystem" and resulted in the site being designated a World Heritage Site in 1996. Industrial development and changes in catchment land-use since the 1950's, however, pose real and serious threats to the stability of the lake's ecosystem with pollution entering the lake from major conurbations, industrial centres, mining and agricultural practises. The lake is also responding strongly to anthropogenic climate change. Firstly, global warming is having a major impact on regional permafrost with increased melting leading to enhanced nutrient inputs to the lake. Secondly, marked increases in water column temperatures have been observed in the south basin. Thirdly, the duration of ice cover and ice thickness have declined significantly in recent decades with further declines forecast for the future. Such changes will have major implications for the food-web interactions and the wider ecosystem from the rapid growth of primary producers underneath clear ice to the lake's top consumer, Phoco sibirica (the world's only freshwater seal).
In order to ensure that future development and policy plans for the catchment are capable of sustaining Lake Baikal's unique ecosystem, there is a need for a detailed understanding as to the impact of anthropogenic influences on the lake. Efforts towards this are ongoing and led by monitoring programmes from the Limnological Research Institute in Irktusk, Russia. This project will complement and extend this work by developing the application of silicon isotope measurements in Lake Baikal to provide information on changes in biogenic nutrient utilisation. By first carrying out a calibration of the method in the modern day water column, measurements will then be taken from a series of sediment cores from around the lake to examine: 1) the impact of recent 20th Century catchment development and climate change on nutrient utilisation; 2) ascertain the response of the lake to natural climatic changes that have occurred over the last 1000 years. Results from this project will provide valuable information that will aid scientists, policy makers and other stakeholders as to the impact of recent catchment/climate changes on Lake Baikal as well as an indication of the lake's vulnerability to future climate change.
In order to ensure that future development and policy plans for the catchment are capable of sustaining Lake Baikal's unique ecosystem, there is a need for a detailed understanding as to the impact of anthropogenic influences on the lake. Efforts towards this are ongoing and led by monitoring programmes from the Limnological Research Institute in Irktusk, Russia. This project will complement and extend this work by developing the application of silicon isotope measurements in Lake Baikal to provide information on changes in biogenic nutrient utilisation. By first carrying out a calibration of the method in the modern day water column, measurements will then be taken from a series of sediment cores from around the lake to examine: 1) the impact of recent 20th Century catchment development and climate change on nutrient utilisation; 2) ascertain the response of the lake to natural climatic changes that have occurred over the last 1000 years. Results from this project will provide valuable information that will aid scientists, policy makers and other stakeholders as to the impact of recent catchment/climate changes on Lake Baikal as well as an indication of the lake's vulnerability to future climate change.
Planned Impact
The research within this project will be of interest to a number of groups covering:
1) Policy makers and environmental groups: including both national and international as well as governmental and non-governmental organisations acting to maintain ecosystem services whilst ensuring future economic development in the region. Example bodies, range from UNESCO and the Russian government to Baikal Environment Wave (www.baikalwave.eu.org/eng.html) and the newly opened Environmental Center in Irkutsk, Russia.
2) Scientists interested in: i) examining the response of lake biology to nutrient loading and climate change; ii) the development and calibration of d30Si as a proxy in aquatic systems - opening the potential for its further use in lacustrine palaeoclimatic reconstructions in Lake Baikal and other site; iii) monitoring ecosystem health of the lake (www.geol.irk.ru/baikal/baikal.htm). This includes existing international collaborative programmes between Russia and other foreign research centres which our research builds on such as the EU funded CONTINENT project (http://continent.gfz-potsdam.de), the International Continental Drilling Programme (ICDP) Baikal Drilling Project (www.geol.sc.edu/sil/bdp.htm) and the Baikal International Centre for Ecological Research (BICER) (http://royalsociety.org/Lake-Baikal).
3) Individuals: by virtue of the lake's historic and cultural status as a site of outstanding natural beauty, as a high profile ecosystem in terms of biodiversity and conservation and as a sacred site for indigenous Buryat people.
As identified in the Pathways to Impact document, members of these three stakeholders will be identified through a series of network analyses and invited to workshop meeting in both the UK and Russia to discuss existing scientific knowledge, the outcomes of this project, current/future risks to the Lake Baikal ecosystem and to identify future objectives and research directions. From this we expect to announce a position statement as to the current and future vulnerability of the Lake Baikal ecosystem to anthropogenic changes. Further scientific impacts will be achieved through a combination of peer-reviewed papers and special sessions at major international conferences.
1) Policy makers and environmental groups: including both national and international as well as governmental and non-governmental organisations acting to maintain ecosystem services whilst ensuring future economic development in the region. Example bodies, range from UNESCO and the Russian government to Baikal Environment Wave (www.baikalwave.eu.org/eng.html) and the newly opened Environmental Center in Irkutsk, Russia.
2) Scientists interested in: i) examining the response of lake biology to nutrient loading and climate change; ii) the development and calibration of d30Si as a proxy in aquatic systems - opening the potential for its further use in lacustrine palaeoclimatic reconstructions in Lake Baikal and other site; iii) monitoring ecosystem health of the lake (www.geol.irk.ru/baikal/baikal.htm). This includes existing international collaborative programmes between Russia and other foreign research centres which our research builds on such as the EU funded CONTINENT project (http://continent.gfz-potsdam.de), the International Continental Drilling Programme (ICDP) Baikal Drilling Project (www.geol.sc.edu/sil/bdp.htm) and the Baikal International Centre for Ecological Research (BICER) (http://royalsociety.org/Lake-Baikal).
3) Individuals: by virtue of the lake's historic and cultural status as a site of outstanding natural beauty, as a high profile ecosystem in terms of biodiversity and conservation and as a sacred site for indigenous Buryat people.
As identified in the Pathways to Impact document, members of these three stakeholders will be identified through a series of network analyses and invited to workshop meeting in both the UK and Russia to discuss existing scientific knowledge, the outcomes of this project, current/future risks to the Lake Baikal ecosystem and to identify future objectives and research directions. From this we expect to announce a position statement as to the current and future vulnerability of the Lake Baikal ecosystem to anthropogenic changes. Further scientific impacts will be achieved through a combination of peer-reviewed papers and special sessions at major international conferences.
People |
ORCID iD |
Anson Mackay (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Adams JK
(2018)
Lake sediment records of persistent organic pollutants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in southern Siberia mirror the changing fortunes of the Russian economy over the past 70 years.
in Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)
C Martins C
(2023)
Earthquake, floods and changing land use history: A 200-year overview of environmental changes in Selenga River basin as indicated by n-alkanes and related proxies in sediments from shallow lakes.
in The Science of the total environment
Hampton S
(2018)
Recent ecological change in ancient lakes
in Limnology and Oceanography
Hampton S
(2016)
Ecology under lake ice
in Ecology Letters
Mackay A
(2022)
Long-term trends in diatom diversity and palaeoproductivity: a 16 000-year multidecadal record from Lake Baikal, southern Siberia
in Climate of the Past
Mackay AW
(2017)
Holocene carbon dynamics at the forest-steppe ecotone of southern Siberia.
in Global change biology
Panizzo V
(2016)
Insights into the transfer of silicon isotopes into the sediment record
in Biogeosciences
Panizzo V
(2018)
Spatial differences in dissolved silicon utilization in Lake Baikal, Siberia: Examining the impact of high diatom biomass events and eutrophication
in Limnology and Oceanography
Panizzo V
(2018)
Modelling silicon supply during the Last Interglacial (MIS 5e) at Lake Baikal
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Title | The Deepest Lake on Earth |
Description | It is a radio programme - none of your categories fits what was done exactly. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2013 |
Impact | None really, apart from public interest in the research |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rvppl |
Description | 2018: we have now shown conclusively that primary producers in the south basin of Lake Baikal (diatoms) have responded significantly to climate change in the past 40 years, with the decline in endemic species and an increase in cosmopolitan species. Another notable finding is that despite ice cover changes in the north basin, no species changes are as yet apparent, so the lake's response to global warming is very heterogenous. This work has been published by Dr Sarah Roberts et al. in PLoS ONE. |
Exploitation Route | These data will be of interest to other researchers globally looking at the impact of global warming on lakes which freeze over every year |
Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Electronics,Environment,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism |
URL | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0208765 |
Description | The producers of Costing the Earth, Radio 4, commissioned me to make series of interviews whilst undertaking research on the ice on Baikal in March 2013. These interviews then formed the basis of a whole 30min Costing the Earth programme, broadcast on 17th and 18th April. Key PIs on the project were interviewed: George Swann, Suzanne McGowan and Virgina Panizzo. This programme is available for download as a podcast. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rvppl |
First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
Sector | Societal |
Impact Types | Cultural |
Description | UCL ORS |
Amount | £48,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | University College London |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2013 |
End | 09/2016 |
Description | Collaboration with Institute of Earth's Crust |
Organisation | Russian Academy of Sciences |
Department | Institute of Earth Crust |
Country | Russian Federation |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | While undertaking fieldwork in March, we made new collaborative links with Dr Elena Vologina at the Institute of Earth Crust. She will be our new official Russian partner for our research. |
Collaborator Contribution | Dr Vologina has undertaken sedimentological analyses of all the cores we have collected as part of this NERC programme. She is also keeping core archives in Irktusk |
Impact | No outputs as yet (apart from the sharing of data and figures) |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Article in The Conversation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Article in The Conversation |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://theconversation.com/lake-baikal-how-climate-change-is-threatening-the-worlds-oldest-deepest-... |
Description | BBC Radio 4 Today Programme |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Interview on BBC Radio 4 on the Today Programme on 20th December 2018 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | BBC World Service Inteview |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Interview by Anson Mackay on BBC World Service |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Costing the Earth, Radio 4 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I co-produced an episode of "Costing the Earth for Radio 4. This was based loosely around the pollution problems facing Lake Baikal and consisted of interviews with key scientific personnel (many of them working on our grant). I received quite a lot of feedback from the public interested in the environment of Russia |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rvppl |
Description | European Freshwater Sciences |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Talk at International Freshwaters Conference; c. 50 delegates during the session. Sparked discussion with other researchers working on pollution impacts of nearby Hovsgol Lake |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.sefs9.ch/?page_id=823 |
Description | I organised a conference called: Isotopes in Biogenic Silica at UCL |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Organised 3-day conference at UCL: Isotopes in Biogenic Silica |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/isotopes-in-biogenic-silica-ibis2015-tickets-14937603775 |
Description | Keynote Speaker at conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | OVer 80 people attended the The Micropalaeontological Society Annual Conference (NHM, London) in November 2017. I was a Keynote Speaker, and gave a talk on: Stable isotopes in diatom silica: tracers of human impact and natural variability, based on our Lake Baikal NERC project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.tmsoc.org/tmsoc2017 |
Description | Plenary speaker at the The Baikal International Ecological Water Forum. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | I was invited to give a plenary talk at the The Baikal International Ecological Water Forum in September 2017. This also involved working lunches with key politicians and other invitees who have a stake in the water quality of large lakes in former countries of the Soviet Union, including key figures in Industry. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://baikal-forum.com/en/index.html |
Description | Session Organised and talk given at American Society for Limnology and Oceanography |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Oral ASLO Feb 2015 session organised (Granada) Recent ecological change in ancient lakes |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.sgmeet.com/aslo/granada2015/sessionschedule.asp?SessionID=046 |
Description | Session organised at the American Geophysical Union 2014 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Oral Dec AGU 2014 session organised (San Francisco) Biogeochemical Cycling of Silicon and Isotopes in Biogenic Silica |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm14/meetingapp.cgi/Session/4677 |