Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Biogeochemical Response Of Alpine Lakes To A Recent Increase In Dust Deposition In The Southwestern, Us, Ashley P. Ballantyne, Janice Brahney, C. L. Lawrence, J. Saros, Jason C. Neff

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

The deposition of dust has recently increased significantly over some regions of the western US. Here we explore how changes in dust deposition have affected the biogeochemistry of two alpine watersheds in Colorado, US. We first reconstruct recent changes in the mass accumulation rate of sediments and then we use isotopic measurements in conjunction with a Bayesian mixing model to infer that approximately 95% of the inorganic fraction of lake sediments is derived from dust. Elemental analyses of modern dust indicate that dust is enriched in Ca, Cr, Cu, Mg, Ni, and in one watershed, Fe and P relative to …