Paleolimnology of Onondaga Lake: the History of Anthropogenic Impacts on Water Quality
Open accessAbstract
New York State's Onondaga Lake is a polluted, hypereutrophic, saline lake with a remarkable paleolimnological record. The chemical and diatom stratigraphy of two sediment cores was used to document past anthropogenic impacts on the lake's water quality. Onondaga Lake's pre-historic and pre-industrial water quality conditions are clarified and subsequent major pollution events identified. Pre-1800s Onondaga Lake was mesotrophic and considerably less saline (around 230 mgL−1 Cl−) than at present (around 450 mgL−1 Cl−). Factors that most affected lake water quality were: 1) increasing settlement in the watershed which increased lake sedimentation and nutrient levels, 2) development of the salt industry during the 1800s which contributed to a rise in lake salinity, 3) the soda-ash industry in die late 1800s through 1900s which added major amounts of CaCO3 and salt to the lake, and 4) post-World War II urban and industrial development which contributed to very high nutrient, Hg, and other heavy metal loadings.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Historically a mesotrophic system, high nutrient concentrations (total phosphorus concentrations >100 ug/L) due to wastewater discharge and nonpoint-source loadings led to frequent algal blooms, high turbidity, and hypolimnetic anoxia, resulting in Onondaga Lake being classified as hypereutrophic.
“Historically a mesotrophic system (Rowell 1996), high nutrient concentrations (total phosphorus [TP] concentrations in the lake >100 ug/L) due to wastewater discharge and nonpoint-source loadings led to frequent algal blooms, high turbidity, and hypolimnetic anoxia, resulting in the lake being classified as hypereutrophic (Effler 1996).”
From Assessment of the Onondaga Lake, New York, fish community following reductions of nutrient inputs from a wastewater treatment plant (2015) · cites this paper as Rowell 1996
Onondaga Lake was oligo-mesotrophic prior to European settlement in the late 1700s.
“Diatom stratigraphy indicates that Onondaga Lake was oligo-mesotrophic prior to European settlement in the late 1700s (Rowell 1996).”
From Assessment of Long-term Trends in the Oxygen Resources of a Recovering Urban Lake, Onondaga Lake, New York (2006) · cites this paper as Rowell 1996
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Appleby, P. G., & Oldfield, F. (1978) · CATENA · doi:10.1016/s0341-8162(78)80002-2 · Cited by 2,906 · see citing works
Ritchie, J. C., & McHenry, J. R. (1990) · Journal of Environmental Quality · doi:10.2134/jeq1990.00472425001900020006x · Cited by 1,227 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 26
- Battarbee, R. W. 1979. Diatoms in lake sediments. P. 177-225. In B. E. Berglund (ed.). International geological correlation programme project 158, paleohydrological changes in the temperate zone in the last 15,000 years. Subproject B, lake and mire environments. Vol. II. Specific methods. Dept. of Quat. Geology, Lund, Sweden.
- Bengtsson, L. and M. Enell. 1986. Chemical analysis. P. 423-454. In: B. E. Berglund (ed.). Handbook of holocene palaeoecology and palaeohydrology. John Wiley and Sons, NY.
- Cole, G. A. 1983. Textbook of limnology. C. V. Mosby Company, St. Louis. 401 p.
- Duthie, H. C. and M. R. Sreenivasa, 1971. Evidence for the eutrophication of Lake Ontario from the sedimentary diatom succession. Proc. 14th Conf. Great Lakes Res. 1-13.
- Effler, S. W. (ed.). 1996. Limnological and engineering analysis of a polluted urban lake. Prelude to environmental management of Onondaga Lake, New York. Springer-Verlag, NY (in press).
- Effler, S. W. 1975. A study of the recent paleolimnology of Onondaga Lake. Doctoral Dissertation, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. 155p.
- Effler, S. W. 1987. Hypereutrophy and pollution in Onondaga Lake, New York. P. 87-101. In Symposium on monitoring, modeling, and mediating water quality. AWRA.
- Effler, S. W., C. T. Driscoll, S. M. Doerr, M. T. Auer, and B. A. Wagner. 1996. Phosphorus. In S. W. Effler (ed.). Limnological and engineering analysis of a polluted urban lake. Prelude to environmental management of Onondaga Lake, New York. Springer-Verlag, NY (in press).
- Effler, S. W. and G. Harnett. 1996. Background. InS. W. Effler (ed.). Limnological and engineering analysis of a polluted urban lake. Prelude to environmental management of Onondaga Lake, New York. Springer-Verlag, NY (in press).
- Engstrom, D. R. and H. E. Wright. 1984. Chemical stratigraphy of lake sediments as a record of environmental change. P. 11-67. In E. Y. Haworth and J. W. G. Lund (eds.). Lake sediments and environmental history. Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
- Effler, S. W. and K. A. Whitehead. 1996. Tributaries and discharges. In S. W. Effler (ed.). Limnological and engineering analysis of a polluted urban lake. Prelude to environmental management of Onondaga Lake, New York. Springer-Verlag, NY (in press).
- Forstner, U. 1990. Inorganic sediment chemistry and elemental speciation. In R. Baudo, J. P. Giesy, and H. Muntau (eds.). Sediments: chemistry and toxicity of in-place pollutants. Lewis Publishers, Inc., Ann Arbor. 405 p.
- Faegri, K. and J. Iversen. 1989. Textbook of pollen analysis. John Wiley and Sons, NY. 328 p.
- Johnson, N. A. 1989. Surficial sediment characteristics and sediment phosphorus release rates in Onondaga Lake, NY. Masters thesis, Michigan Technological University. 127 p.
- Kelts, K and K. J. Hsu. 1978. Freshwater carbonate sedimentation. P. 295-324. InA. Lerman (ed.). Lakes: chemistry, geology, physics. Springer-Verlag, NY.
- Oldfield, F. and P. G. Appleby. 1984. Empirical testing of²ioPb-dating models for lake sediments. P. 93-124. In E. Y. Haworth and J. W. G. Lund (eds.). Lake sediments and environmental history. Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
- Patrick, R. 1977. Ecology of freshwater diatoms and diatom communities. P. 284-332. In D. Werner (ed.). The biology of diatoms. Univ. of California Press, Berkeley.
- Reineck, H. E. and I. B. Singh. 1980. Depositional sedimentary environments. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 549 p.
- Rowell, H. C. and S. W. Effler. 1996. Sediment stratigraphy. InS. W. Effler (ed.). Limnological and engineering analysis of a polluted urban lake. Prelude to environmental management of Onondaga Lake, New York. Springer-Verlag, NY (in press).
- Rowell, H. C. 1992. Paleolimnology, sediment stratigraphy, and water quality history of Onondaga Lake, Syracuse, NY. Doctoral dissertation, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY. 235 p.
- Saroff, S. R. (ed.). 1990. Proceedings of the Onondaga Lake remediation conference. New York State Dept. of Law and Dept. of Environmental Conservation. 193 p.
- Sly, P. G. 1977. Sedimentary environments in the Great Lakes. P. 7682. In H. L. Golterman (ed.). Interactions between sediments and fresh water. Dr. W. Junk B. V. Publishers, The Hague.
- Stoermer, E. F. 1984. Qualitative characteristics of phytoplankton assemblages. P. 49-67. InAlgae as ecological indicators. Academic Press Inc., London Ltd.
- Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater 1971. 13th Edition, A.P.H.A., A.W.W.A., W.P.C.F., NewYork, NY.
- Wetzel, R. G. 1983. Limnology. Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia, PA. 767 p.
- Winkley, S. J. 1989. The hydrogeology of Onondaga County, New York. Masters thesis. Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Matthews, D. A., & Effler, S. W. (2006) · Limnology and Oceanography · doi:10.4319/lo.2006.51.1_part_2.0702 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Matthews, D. A., & Effler, S. W. (2006) · Lake and Reservoir Management · doi:10.1080/07438140609353881 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Matthews, D. A., Effler, S. W., Matthews, C. M. B., Siegfried, C. A., & Spada, M. E. (2001) · Water Environment Research · doi:10.2175/106143001x143439 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Implications of redox processes for the rehabilitation of an urban lake, Onondaga Lake, New York
Effler, S. W., & Matthews, D. A. (2008) · Lake and Reservoir Management · doi:10.1080/07438140809354056 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
A long-term record of epilimnetic phosphorus patterns in recovering Onondaga Lake, New York
Effler, S. W. O. (2010) · Fundamental and Applied Limnology · doi:10.1127/1863-9135/2010/0177-0001 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Wang, R. W., Rudstam, L. G., Brooking, T. E., Snyder, D. J., Arrigo, M. A., & Mills, E. L. (2010) · Lake and Reservoir Management · doi:10.1080/07438141.2010.504070 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Effler, S. W., O'Donnell, S. M., Prestigiacomo, A. R., Matthews, D. A., & Auer, M. T. (2013) · Water Environment Research · doi:10.2175/106143012x13415215906690 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
An Upwelling Event at Onondaga Lake, NY: Characterization, Impact and Recurrence*
Effler, S. W., Wagner, B. A., O'Donnell, S. M., Matthews, D. A., O'Donnell, D. M., Gelda, R. K., Matthews, C. M., & Cowen, E. A. (2004) · Hydrobiologia · doi:10.1023/b:hydr.0000014040.88372.82 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Rowell, H. C., Enache, M. D., Quinlan, R., Smith, A. J., Bloomfield, J. A., Charles, D. F., & Effler, S. W. (2016) · Journal of Paleolimnology · doi:10.1007/s10933-015-9877-8 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationMurphy, M. H., Gandino, C. J., Ringler, N. H., Kirby, L., Johnson, S., Smith, M., & Schroeder, S. (2015) · Lake and Reservoir Management · doi:10.1080/10402381.2015.1093569 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Rowell, H. C.
- Affiliations
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rowell, H. Chandler
- Venue
- Lake and Reservoir Management
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 1996-03
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 35-45
- ISSN
- 0743-8141 (ISSN-L)
- 1040-2381
- 2151-5530
- OpenAlex
- W2136299400
- Cited by
- 69
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2024: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 3.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Lake and Reservoir Management (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water Quality and Resources Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water Quality and Pollution Assessment
- Keywords
- Onondaga Lake, paleolimnology, anthropogenic impacts, lake salinity, hypereutrophic lakes, diatom biostratigraphy, sediment core, salt industry, soda ash industry, nutrient loading, heavy metals, mercury, lake sedimentation
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
