Palaeoclimate
Lake Baikal contains a potentially uninterrupted palaeoclimate record extending back over 20 million years. This record is of significant importance, given the lake’s position in one of the world’s most continental regions where there are few continuous, high quality records spanning the Quaternary (last c. 2.75 million years).
In the latest issue of Earth-Science Reviews [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2007.03.002] I have written a review which provides a synthesis of Lake Baikal paleoclimate studies that exploit the sedimentary diatom record and associated diatom / biogenic silica (BioSi). I focus on diatoms and biogenic silica because they are the most extensively utilized paleoclimatic proxies found in Lake Baikal sediments, and arguably the most important. (Although other biological proxies are increasingly being utilised to great effect, including pollen, pigments, alkenones, TEX86, etc). I will provide information on each of these in future posts. (more…)