Environmental change in Northern Egyptian Delta lakes during the late Holocene,based on diatom analysis |
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| Authors: | Abdelfattah Zalat Simone Servant Vildary |
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| Institution: | (1) Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, 31527, Egypt;(2) Antenne IRD, Muséum National d’histoire Naturelle, UMR 5143, Paris, France |
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| Abstract: | Quantitative and qualitative diatom analyses from the north Nile Delta lakes sediments of Egypt were used to evaluate the
paleoenvironmental development of the lakes and climatic changes during the late Holocene. We analyzed 565 samples taken from
19 cores from Manzala, Burullus and Edku lakes. A total of 263 diatom species and varieties were identified. Multivariate
statistical analyses distinguished 17 ecological groups that reflect changes in water salinity, lake-level and trophic state
of the lakes, which in turn are mainly related to climatic changes and anthropogenic impacts. Manzala and Burullus lakes experienced
a series of alternation between fresh, brackish and marine episodes, which were associated with wet and dry climates. Edku
Lake cores, however, contained only three ecological groups that are characteristic of brackish water conditions. The general
depositional regime in the lakes indicated five environmental phases: (a) a deep freshwater phase when the Nile flood water
reach the lakes during humid warm climate; (b) a shallow freshwater phase with some macrophytes during a dry climate; (c)
a shallow brackish water phase when Nile floodwater ceased during a dry climate and the lakes shifted to brackish conditions;
(d) a mixed environmental phase when the seawater mixed with freshwater from drains and canals (water salinity fluctuated
widely from freshwater to estuarine and full marine conditions); (e) a fully marine phase when seawater entered the lakes
at all stages of the tide. |
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| Keywords: | Egyptian lakes Holocene sediments Diatoms Canonical correspondence analysis |
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