Home – Home – Jornals – Russian Geology and Geophysics 2001 number 1-2

Depth profiles of carotenoids, chlorophyll derivates, and other biogenic indicators, such as biogenic silica (BGS), total organic carbon (TOC), total organic nitrogen (TON), and perylene, were measured in ¹⁴C-dated sediments ( 2m thick) sampled from the Southern basin of Lake Baikal. The photosynthetic pigments, BGS, and TOC (TON) accumulated in the upper part (80 cm) of the core (dated at 12-13 ka BP), whereas biogenic perylene occurs in its lower part (below 80 cm). Biogenic silica in the upper part shows a negative correlation with total carotenoids and no significant positive correlation with TOC and total chlorophyll a. This indicates that high contents of BGS providing oxidizing conditions in the lake stimulate aerobic decomposition of organic compounds in the water and in the surface sediments. The high concentrations of perylene in the lower part of the core against the background of the low lake productivity suggest specific processes of sedimentation in the past.