Abstract
Chrysophyte cysts and scales and sponge spicules were enumerated, along with diatoms, from the surface sediments of 102 western Canadian lakes. The salinities of these lakes ranged from 0.042 to 369 g L−1 in late summer. Sponge spicules and chrysophyte cysts and scales were more common in fresher waters, although chrysophyte cysts were also present in subsaline and hyposaline waters at lower relative percentages. These siliceous microfossils can easily be distinguished and counted along with diatom valves, with little extra effort. It is likely that using these additional indicators will strengthen paleolimnological inferences of past lakewater salinity.
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Cumming, B.F., Wilson, S.E. & Smol, J.P. Paleolimnological potential of chrysophyte cysts and scales and of sponge spicules as indicators of lake salinity. Int. J. Salt Lake Res. 2, 87–92 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02905055
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02905055