An Endorheic Lake in a Changing Climate: Geochemical Investigations at Lake Trasimeno (Italy)
Authors:Frondini, FrancescoDragoni, WalterMorgantini, NicolaDonnini, MarcoCardellini, CarloCaliro, StefanoMelillo, MassimoChiodini, Giovanni
Source:WATER
Volume:11
Published:2019
Document Type:Article
Abstract:Lake Trasimeno is a shallow, endorheic lake located in central Italy. It is the fourth Italian largest lake and is one of the largest endorheic basins in western Europe. Because of its shallow depth and the absence of natural outflows, the lake, in historical times, alternated from periods of floods to strong decreases of the water level during periods of prolonged drought. Lake water is characterised by a NaCl composition and relatively high salinity. The geochemical and isotopic monitoring of lake water from 2006 to 2018 shows the presence of well-defined seasonal trends, strictly correlated to precipitation regime and evaporation. These trends are clearly highlighted by the isotopic composition of lake water (delta O-18 and delta D) and by the variations of dissolved mobile species. In the long term, a progressive warming of lake water and a strong increase of total dissolved inorganic solids have been observed, indicating Lake Trasimeno as a paradigmatic example of how climate change can cause large variations of water quality and quantity. Furthermore, the rate of variation of lake water temperature is very close to the rate of variation of land-surface air temperature, LSAT, suggesting that shallow endorheic lakes can be used as a proxy for global warming measurements.
Author Information
Corresponding Author:
Reprint Address:Frondini, F (corresponding author), Univ Perugia, Dipartimento Fis & Geol, Via Pascoli Snc, I-06100 Perugia, Italy.
Addresses:[Frondini, Francesco; Dragoni, Walter; Cardellini, Carlo] Univ Perugia, Dipartimento Fis & Geol, Via Pascoli Snc, I-06100 Perugia, Italy. [Morgantini, Nicola] Agenzia Reg Protez Ambientale, Arpa Umbria, Via Pievaiola 207-B-3 San Sisto, I-06132 Perugia, Italy. [Donnini, Marco; Melillo, Massimo] CNR, Ist Ric Protez Idrogeol, Via Madonna Alta 126, I-06128 Perugia, Italy. [Caliro, Stefano] Ist Nazl Geofis & Vulcanol, Sez Napoli Osservatorio Vesuviano, Via Diocleziano 328, I-80124 Naples, Italy. [Chiodini, Giovanni] Ist Nazl Geofis & Vulcanol, Sez Bologna, Via Creti 12, I-40128 Bologna, Italy.
E-mail Addresses:francesco.frondini@unipg.it