Processes and controlling factors of lacustrine sedimentary dynamics over the last ~6000 years in Lake Ighiel, Apuseni Mts, Romania

Abstract

Lake sediments act as high-resolution archives of past climate and environments, able to record natural and anthropogenic driven changes, and their effects on the ecosystem. Here we discuss a new lacustrine record from Lake Ighiel (924 m a.s.l.), located in Apuseni Mountains, in an attempt to reconstruct the lacustrine dynamics over the last 6000 years and identify the main processes, which controlled the depositional system during specific phases of lake evolution. Based on ²¹⁰Pb and ¹⁴C dating, X-ray fluorescence scanning (μ-XRF) measurements, long-core sedimentary logging and environmental magnetic proxies (susceptibility, natural and induced remanences) we discuss the following points:  i) the characteristics of main lacustrine sedimentation phases; ii) the amplitude and interplay of processes controlling the depositional environment through time; iii) contribution of hydroclimatic forcing in explaining changes in the nature of lacustrine deposition