Suyyas’s Flood: Numerical Models of Kashmir’s Medieval Megaflood and Ancient Lake Kerewa Drainage Events

In the mid-ninth century, an earthquake triggered a landslide that blocked the narrow gorge of the Jhelum River where it exits the Kashmir Valley. The landslide impounded a lake that extended ≈100 km along the floor of the valley, implying an impounded volume of ≤21 km3, flooding the capital, Srinagar, and much agricultural land. An engineered breach of the landslide was contrived by a Medieval engineer resulting in the catastrophic release of flood waters. Using reasonable assumptions we calculate the probable minimum drainage time of this Medieval flood (<4 days) and maximum downstream surge velocities (≈12 m/s). These would have been sufficient to transport boulders in the bed of the Jhelum with dimensions of ≈6 m, consistent with those currently present in some reaches of the river. Given the morphology of the Jhelum gorge we consider that landslide outburst floods may have been common in Kashmir’s history. Ancient shorelines indicate that paleo-lake volumes in the Kashmir Valley may have exceeded 400 km3 which, were they released in catastrophic floods, would have been associated with potential downstream outburst velocities >32 m/s, able to transport boulders with dimensions ≈40 m, far in excess of any found in the course of the Jhelum or in the Punjab plains. Their absence suggests that Kashmir’s ancient lakes were not lowered by outburst mechanisms much exceeding those associated with Suyya’s flood. Present-day floods have been many tens of meters shallower than those impounded by landslides in the Jhelum in the past several thousands of years. A challenge for future study will be to date Kashmir’s ancient shorelines to learn how often landslides and major impoundment events may have occurred in the valley.

Standing Waters, Especially Ancient Lakes

Crustacea in standing waters are a diverse taxonomic assemblage with representatives in all available habitats from the benthic zone to the pelagial in larger water bodies. While most higher taxa are widespread and occasionally cosmopolitan, this is only partially true at the genus and species level. The crustacean fauna of geologically young lakes, or ponds, is characterized by widespread species that are not even necessarily restricted to lentic habitats. These species generally have good to excellent dispersal capabilities, especially those dwelling in ephemeral habitats. Small groups such as branchiopods and copepods dominate under these conditions among obligate still-water dwellers. In contrast, endemism and occasional striking adaptations are the hallmarks of crustacean species flocks, especially in the radiations of amphipods, decapods, and ostracods in the fewer than 10 ancient lakes worldwide. These radiations have arisen in situ through the diversification of unspecialized ancestors. All comparatively well-studied radiations for which molecular phylogenetic, taxonomic, and ecological data are available show particular adaptations of trophic morphology correlated to specific habitats. Prime examples are the species flocks of amphipods in Lake Baikal and of atyid shrimps in Lake Tanganyika and in two Indonesian lakes. These groups have most likely evolved through adaptive radiation. A major challenge for research on crustaceans in ancient lakes, and in standing waters generally outside Europe and North America, is the lack of basic data from species diversity to genetics for many, if not most, taxa. Getting a grip on species diversity, distributions, ecology, and, at a different level, genomics will be a research priority for coming decades.

Methanogen microfossils and methanogenesis in Permian lake deposits

Methanogens are methane-producing archaea (some of the most primitive organisms on Earth), which possess great phylogenetic and ecological diversity in modern ecosystems. However, cellular fossil evidence of methanogens remains extremely scarce throughout the geological record. Here, we report a new population of spheroidal microstructures composed of dolomite observed in Permian lake deposits in northwestern China. The microspheres exhibit indicators of biological affinity and are well preserved in authigenic dolomite with cellular fidelity. Based on morphological and geochemical evidence, these microspheres are interpreted as fossilized cells of methanogenic archaea, which can be divided into three size-based taxa. These microfossils are the first fossil record of spheroidal methanogens. The microfossil-bearing dolomite exhibits extremely positive δ13C values (up to +20‰ relative to Vienna Peedee belemnite) that are attributed to microbial methanogenesis. The results suggest that methanogens were a significant component of this Permian lake biosphere. As a consequence of the metabolic activity of the methanogens, a large amount of biogenic methane was produced through methanogenesis in the anoxic lake sediments. This study not only fills a gap in the fossil record of methanogenic archaea, but it also provides new insights into methane emissions from ancient lakes.

Ecological Connectivity in Two Ancient Lakes: Impact Upon Planktonic Cyanobacteria and Water Quality

The ancient lakes Mikri Prespa and Megali Prespa are located in SE Europe at the transnational triangle and are globally recognized for their ecological significance. They host hundreds of flora and fauna species, and numerous types of habitat of conservational interest. They also provide a variety of ecosystem services. Over the last few decades, the two lakes have been interconnected through a surface water channel. In an attempt to explore whether such a management practice might alter the ecological properties of the two lakes, we investigated a series of community metrics for phytoplankton by emphasizing cyanobacteria. Our results demonstrate that the cyanobacterial metacommunity structure was affected by directional hydrological connectivity and high dispersal rates, and to a lesser extent, by cyanobacterial species sorting. Cyanobacterial alpha diversity was twofold in the shallow upstream Lake Mikri Prespa (Simpson index average value: 0.70) in comparison to downstream Lake Megali Prespa (Simpson index average value: 0.37). The cyanobacterial assemblage of the latter was only a strict subset of that in Mikri Prespa. Similarly, beta diversity components clearly showed a homogenization of cyanobacteria, supporting the hypothesis that water flow enhances fluvial translocation of potentially toxic and bloom-forming cyanobacteria. Degrading of the water quality in the Lake Megali Prespa in anticipation of improving that of the Lake Mikri Prespa is an issue of great concern for the Prespa lakes’ protection and conservation.

Rare diatom Stauroneis balatonis Pantocsek recorded in Lake Savsko, Serbia

Although well represented in the fossil diatom flora throughout Europe and Asia, from the early-middle Miocene to the Quaternary, Stauroneis balatonis is considered a very rare diatom with a contemporary distribution limited to two ancient lakes – Ohrid and Prespa. The objective of this study was to describe the first finding of S. balatonis in Serbia in Lake Savsko and to update information on the distribution and ecology of this rare species. Periphyton samples were collected from artificial substrates incubated at three depths (0.5 m, 0.8 m and 1.4 m) in Lake Savsko and the epilithic community was sampled in the littoral zone. Samples were collected weekly in summer 2014, from mid-July to mid-September. Diatom permanent slides were prepared and small numbers of S. balatonis specimens were observed only in samples collected in September from artificial substrates incubated at the greatest depth (1.4 m). Our results significantly contribute to the information on the contemporary distribution and the ecology of this rare diatom taxon, especially considering the fact that S. balatonis specimens were observed in our study in diatom communities developed on artificial substrates and in an urban reservoir, i.e. Lake Savsko.

А new species of Alona Baird, 1843 (Cladocera: Chydoridae) from the ancient Lake Ohrid

A new species of Cladocera, Alona begoniae sp. nov. (Anomopoda: Chydoridae) was found in ancient Lake Ohrid. Its habitus and outer morphology is similar to one of the most common Palearctic species, Coronatella rectangula (Sars, 1862), and this can be the main reason why it has remained undiscovered. A. begoniae sp. nov. belongs to the elegans-group of Alona s. lato, a relict genus-level group not formally recognised yet as a separate taxonomical unit. Its habitat seem to be sandy and stony substrates (at 2–12 m depth) bare of vegetation. The position of this new species within the Alona-like anomopods is evaluated and similarities with other cladocerans in ancient lakes are discussed.