Lacustrine Environments - Trace Fossils as Indicators of Sedimentary Environments - page 373

TABLE 1 A Lake Basin Zonation Scheme for the Interpretation of Lake-Basin Sedimentary Successions with Trace Fossils—Cont'd

Terrestrial Supralittoral Eulittoral Littoral Sublittoral Profundal

Physical controls
(including
hydrodynamic,
substrate-
related, and
climate-related
controls)

Wind energy and
deflation or eolian
deposition

Wind energy, deflation or
eolian deposition, fetch
and storm wave energy

Fetch and wave energy, daily to seasonal wind-
direction variability, variable barometric
pressure and wave heights

Fetch and storm
wave energy

Lake depth

Frequency and intensity of storms Event sedimentation

(tempestites, varves)

Currents (due to wind, density gradients, atmospheric pressure
gradients)

Sediment load, discharge, and current energy in fluvial and deltaic
channels

Hypopycnal, homopycnal, or hyperpycnal flows
in deltaic settings; sediment load, discharge, and
current energy in channels
Turbidity

Hyperpycnal flows and
turbidites, sediment load
and discharge

Mixing regime

Surface water availability,
fluvial flooding cycles

Frequency of lake-level fluctuations, duration of periods of
subaerial exposure, effects of short-term and long-term
climate cycles on water input and output

Exposure of lake floor due to
longer-term climate cycles or
tectonic activity

Exposure due to major
basin-scale changes

Solar radiation; shade; air and ground temperatures Solar radiation, air and lake water temperatures

Depth to water table Capillary evaporation Direct evaporation

Moisture conditions,
drainage (permeability
and porosity)

Substrate consolidation and degree of
induration, substrate cohesiveness and
saturation, drainage

Substrate consolidation and degree of induration, substrate cohesiveness

Biological
controls

Productivity of soil
microorganisms

Productivity of benthic and
soil microorganisms

Mixed Productivity of benthic and planktonic organisms

(depth of light penetration)

Benthic and planktonic
organisms, decay
Respiration/gas release by
aquatic organisms

Respiration and gas release by soil organisms Respiration and gas release by semi-aquatic and aquatic

organisms

Presence of vegetation, shade from vegetation, types of vegetation Deposition of plant-derived detritus

Trampling of substrate by vertebrates
Nutrient cycling by infaunal and epifaunal air-breathing organisms

Nutrient cycling by infaunal and epifaunal benthic aquatic organisms

The presence of the zones and their lateral extent vary with the unique characteristics of each lake basin (e.g., gradient, lake depth) and the features related to lake-basin type (e.g.,
extent and frequency of lake-level fluctuations). Each lake basin may contain one or more of the depositional systems listed depending on the lake-basin size and morphometry.
Carbonate and siliciclastic systems are not subdivided in this classification. Ephemeral lakes are present within the zone of lake-level rise and fall. Springs may be present in any
zone. This scheme was constructed with reference to Ward (1992) , Williams (1998) , Wetzel (2001) , Cohen (2003) , Schowalter (2006) , Buatois and Ma´ngano (2007) , Miller and
White (2007) , Hasiotis (2007) , and Renaut and Gierlowski-Kordesch (2010) .