Reconstruction of the history of a thermokarst lake in the Mid-Holocene based on an analysis of subfossil Cladocera (Siberia, Central Yakutia)

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a cladoceran analysis of a sediment core with a lenght of 382 cm collected from a pingo in alas Khara Bulgunnyakh located in Central Yakutia. Based on the Cladocera analysis results, the formation of the lake had started during the Holocene climatic optimum ~6600 cal. yrs. BP. The analysis of changes in the species composition of subfossil cladoceran communities made it possible to identify, on the basis of cluster analysis, four statistically significant ecological zones. The period of optimal conditions for the Cladocera community is defined by a complex evened community structure and numerous cladoceran remains in the sediments accumulated between 6500 and 6000 cal. yrs. BP. The history of the thermokarst water body development and existence reconstructed on the basis of the subfossil cladoceran analysis was rapid and short.