Cameron, Nigel George; (1991) Representation of diatom communities by fossil assemblages in Loch Fleet, Galloway, Scotland. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Fossil assemblages of diatom valves from lake sediments are used as a record of former diatom communities. Past water quality, for example pH, can be inferred from the composition of these assemblages. However, the relationship between mixtures of diatom valves in lake sediment and the diatom communities from which they are formed is not necessarily a direct one. In order to test the representative quality of fossil assemblages, valve assemblages in recent sediment have been compared with the contemporary diatom flora of a lake. Loch Fleet, Galloway, Scotland was an acidified lake. Experimental liming of the lake catchment produced changes in water quality and a consistently higher pH has been maintained. The marked response of diatom species to changing water quality provided a means of tracing events from living communities to the fossil assemblage. Diatom periphyton and plankton were sampled during a 20 month period and in addition archived material was available. These samples were compared with fossil diatom assemblages from sediment cores and from sediment traps taken during the same period.

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