Palaeosalinity reconstruction from saline lake diatom assemblages in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica

The relationship between surface sediment diatom assemblages and measured limnological variables in thirty-three coastal Antarctic lakes from the Vestfold Hills was examined by constructing a diatom-water chemistry dataset. Canonical correspondence analysis of this dataset revealed that salinity accounted for a significant amount of the variation in the distribution of the diatom assemblages in this. set of lakes. Weighted averaging regression and calibration of this diatom-salinity relationship established a transfer function for the reconstruction of past lakewater salinity from fossil diatom assemblages in this coastal Antarctic region. Application of this palaeosalinity reconstruction tool to a sediment core from Anderson Lake revealed distinct patterns of lakewater salinity change from the changes in species assemblages throughout the lake's history.