Sediment trap studies and high frequency monitoring are of great importance to develop a deeper understanding of how seasonal environmental processes are imprinted in sediment signal formation. We collected whole year diatom assemblages from 2002 to 2014 with a sequential sediment trap from a varved boreal lake (Nylandssjon, Sweden) together with environmental and limnological parameters, and compared them with the corresponding diatom record of the annual laminated sediment. Our data set indicates a large year-to-year variability of diatom succession and abundance patterns, which is well reflected in the varved sediments. Specifically, Cyclotella glomerata dominated the annual sediment trap record (as well as in the corresponding sediment varves) in years with warmer air temperatures in March/April, and Asterionella formosa dominated the annual sediment assemblages as a consequence of years characterized by higher runoff before lake over-turn. Years succeeding forest clearance in the lake catchment showed marked increase in diatom and sediment flux. The DCA scores of the yearly diatom trap assemblages clearly resemble the lake's thermal structure, which indicates that the relative abundance of major taxa seems primarily controlled by the timing of seasonal environmental events, such as above-average winter air temperature and/or autumn runoff and the current thermal structure of the lake. The high seasonal variability between environmental drivers in combination with the physical limnology leaves us with several possible scenarios leading to either an A. formosa versus C. glomerata dominated annual diatom sediment signal. With this study we highlight that short-term environmental events and seasonal limnological conditions are of major importance for interpreting annual sediment signals.

Annually laminated (varved) lake sediments constitutes excellent environmental archives, and have the potential to play an important role for understanding past seasonal climate with their inherent annual time resolution and within-year seasonal patterns. We propose to use functional data analysis methods to extract the relevant information with respect to climate reconstruction from the rich but complex information in the varves, including the shapes of the seasonal patterns, the varying varve thickness, and the non-linear sediment accumulation rates. In particular we analyze varved sediment from lake Kassjon in northern Sweden, covering the past 6400 years. The properties of each varve reflect to a large extent weather conditions and internal biological processes in the lake the year that the varve was deposited. Functional clustering is used to group the seasonal patterns into different types, that can be associated with different weather conditions. The seasonal patterns were described by penalized splines and clustered by the k-means algorithm, after alignment. The observed (within-year) variability in the data was used to determine the degree of smoothing for the penalized spline approximations. The resulting clusters and their time dynamics show great potential for seasonal climate interpretation, in particular for winter climate changes.

To assess the rates of compaction in recent, varved (annually laminated) lake sediments, we used a collection of 13 freeze cores sampled from 1979 to 2012 in Nylandssjon (northern Sweden). This unique series of stored freeze cores allowed us to measure how the thickness of individual varves changed when they were overlain by new varves. The compaction rate was greatest during the first few years after deposition; varve thickness decreased by 60% after 5 years (sediment depth 5cm). Thereafter, the compaction rate declined, but after 33 years (the study period) there was still a weak trend of continued compaction (sediment depth 12cm). The rate of compaction is clearly linked to loss of water along with an increase in dry-bulk density of the sediment. Despite compaction causing considerable varve thickness changes over time, the year-to-year variation in varve thickness is preserved while sediment ages. Understanding compaction processes is of fundamental importance to paleolimnology, for example in studies involving calibration of varve thicknesses of recent varves against environmental parameters.

Over recent decades, palaeolimnological records from remote sites have provided convincing evidence for the onset and development of several facets of global environmental change. Remote lakes, defined here as those occurring in high latitude or high altitude regions, have the advantage of not being overprinted by local anthropogenic processes. As such, many of these sites record broad-scale environmental changes, frequently driven by regime shifts in the Earth system. Here, we review a selection of studies from North America and Europe and discuss their broader implications. The history of investigation has evolved synchronously with the scope and awareness of environmental problems. An initial focus on acid deposition switched to metal and other types of pollutants, then climate change and eventually to atmospheric deposition-fertilising effects. However, none of these topics is independent of the other, and all of them affect ecosystem function and biodiversity in profound ways. Currently, remote lake palaeolimnology is developing unique datasets for each region investigated that benchmark current trends with respect to past, purely natural variability in lake systems. Fostering conceptual and methodological bridges with other environmental disciplines will upturn contribution of remote lake palaeolimnology in solving existing and emerging questions in global change science and planetary stewardship.

Peak activities of radiocaesium (¹³⁷Cs) in lake sediments have frequently been used to infer the ages of sediments deposited in the 1960s (¹³⁷Cs derived from nuclear bomb testing) or in 1986 (Chernobyl derived ¹³⁷Cs). Records of the vertical distribution of ¹³⁷Cs in sediments can thus be used to provide accurate dates for a critical period in which palaeoecological reconstructions often overlap contemporary monitoring data. However, knowledge regarding how the distribution of ¹³⁷Cs in sediments is affected by post-depositional processes is limited to interpretations based on the ¹³⁷Cs distribution in sediments sampled at a single given date. This study assesses the extent to which the ¹³⁷Cs record in annually laminated (varved) lake sediments is affected by post-depositional diffusion, using 11 archived sediment cores sampled between 1986 and 2007. The sediment record reveals how Chernobyl ¹³⁷Cs incorporated into the 1986 varve diffused downwards in the core at a decreasing rate over time, whereas the surface sediments continued to receive inputs of ¹³⁷Cs mobilized from the catchment soils or lake margin. In spite of these processes, all cores post-dating the Chernobyl accident had a clear and well-resolved peak in the 1986 varve, justifying the use of this feature as a fixed chronostratigraphic feature. Because of the very high levels of Chernobyl fallout at this site, downwards migration of Chernobyl ¹³⁷Cs has, however, completely masked the nuclear weapons ¹³⁷Cs fallout peak that had been clearly preserved in the 1964 varve of a pre-Chernobyl core sampled just three weeks before the Chernobyl accident. In consequence, the weapons fallout marker is likely to be of little use for determining ¹³⁷Cs dates in areas strongly affected by high levels of Chernobyl fallout.

The historical Norberg mining district in central Sweden with its shallow, easily accessible iron ores figures prominently in the earliest documents from the 14th century concerning mining or metallurgy. This 1000-km² district is considered to be one of the first areas in Sweden exploited for iron ores and, in fact, Europe’s oldest known blast furnace, Lapphyttan, is located in the Norberg district about 10 km from the mines in the village of Norberg (Norbergsby). Earlier archaeological excavations suggest the furnace was in operation as early as the 11th or 12th century (870 and 930 ¹⁴C yr BP), and a number of other sites in the district have been dated to the 13th–15th centuries. Here, we have analyzed two lake sediment records (Kalven and Noren) from the village of Norberg and a peat record from Lapphyttan. The Lapphyttan peat record was radiocarbon dated, whereas the sediment from Kalven is annually laminated, which provides a fairly precise chronology. Our pollen data indicate that land use in the area began gradually as forest grazing by at least c. AD 1050, with indications of more widespread forest disturbance and cultivation from c. 1180 at Lapphyttan and 1250 at Kalven. Based on ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb isotope ratios in Kalven’s varved sediment record, there is an indication of mining or metallurgy in the area c. 960, but likely not in immediate connection to our sites. Evidence of mining and metallurgy increases gradually from c. 1180 when there is a decline in ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratios and an increase in charcoal particles at Lapphyttan, followed by increasing inputs of lithogenic elements in Noren’s sediment record indicating soil disturbance, which we attribute to the onset of mining the iron ore bodies surrounding Noren. From AD 1295 onwards evidence of mining and metallurgy are ubiquitous, and activities accelerate especially during the late 15th century; the maximum influence of Bergslagen ore lead (i.e., the minimum in ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb isotope ratios) in both Kalven and Noren occurs c. 1490–1500, when also varve properties change in Kalven and in Noren sharp increases occur in the concentrations of a range of other ore-related metals (e.g., arsenic, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, mercury and zinc). From the 15th century onwards mining and metallurgy are the dominant feature of the sediment records.

The intention of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the national guidelines that implement the WFD is that present-day conditions and future management strategies are to be based on an understanding of reference conditions for the particular water body of interest. In the context of non-synthetic pollutants such as lead, mercury and cadmium, the criteria for a high ecological status are that "concentrations [are] within the range normally associated with undisturbed conditions". How this normal range is to be defined is open to interpretation; for example, in Sweden reference conditions based on sediment records are defined as the conditions prior to modern industrialization, i.e. prior to the mid-1800's. These pre-industrial reference conditions would correspond to sediments 15-30 cm depth. However, 'reference conditions' are not always synonymous with 'natural background conditions'. Analyses of long sediment profiles from Swedish lakes and from a few other areas, however, have shown that pre-industrial pollution-at least with regard to lead-was extensive. Atmospheric lead pollution has its origin in antiquity, with a small, well-defined peak already during the Greek-Roman period 2,000 years ago. Sediments deposited 300-500 years in Sweden and Scotland, for example, show a dominance of pollution lead, and in some sediment records also cadmium and copper pollution was extensive. Thus, in order to characterize natural background concentrations of metals, long sediment profiles are needed to reach sediments unaffected by pollution (> 3,000 years BP); this can correspond to sediments below 50 cm in some lakes, but in others sediments below 300 cm or more.

In lake sediment investigations of heavy metal pollution history, it has become a common approach to calculate enrichment factors (EFs) by normalizing elemental distributions to a reference lithogenic element. However, this approach requires that the reference element remains stable once it has been deposited to the sediment (it is not affected by diagenetic processes). This is rarely studied in well-controlled field experiments. Here, we test the commonly used reference elements titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), aluminum (Al), and rubidium (Rb). We use a unique series of freeze cores collected in different years since 1979 in Lake Nylandssjon in northern Sweden. This lake has sediment with distinct varves (annually laminated deposit). Element concentrations in individual varves were analyzed using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. By tracking the newly formed surface varve from different cores across this core series, i.e., following the element concentration in a specific varve as it becomes progressively aged, it was possible to assess the potential impact of diagenetic processes on geochemical signatures. Results confirm the conservative character of the studied elements; there was neither an increasing nor a decreasing concentration trend with time during sediment ageing for any of these elements. Secondly, we addressed the question 'which of them is the most appropriate for EFs estimates with the aim of distinguishing anthropogenic from geogenic inputs, for example in pollution studies'. To assess the reliability of the EFs we used lead (Pb) as an example, because anthropogenic Pb in the sediment could be independently calculated using stable Pb isotopes. When anthropogenic Pb concentrations calculated with Pb-EFs were compared to the anthropogenic Pb concentrations derived from stable Pb isotopes, the differences found were 20% for Ti, 10% for Zr, 11% for Al, and 27% for Rb when upper continental crust concentrations were used for the background ratio. Based on the results from Nylandssjon our suggestions are that (1) when using EFs on a single core, which is the normal case in paleolimnology, multiple reference elements should be used together and (2) the results from those should be critically evaluated.

Processes controlling sediment yield vary over a range of timescales, although most process-based observations are extremely short. Lake sediments, however, can be used to extend the observational timescale and are particularly useful when annually laminated (varved) sediment is present. The sediment record at Kassjön (N. Sweden) consists of ∼6400 varves, each 0·5–1 mm thick. Image analysis was used to determine grey-scale variation and varve thickness from which annual minerogenic accumulation rate (MinAR) (mg cm⁻² year⁻¹) was inferred for the period 4486 BC – AD 1900. MinAR varies on annual to centennial scales and mainly reflects channel bank erosion by the inflow streams. The mineral input reflects the intensity of the spring run-off, which is dependent on the amount of snow accumulated during the winter, and hence MinAR is a long-term record of variability in past winter climate; other factors will be a variable response to catchment uplift, vegetation succession and pedogenesis. A major shift from low to high MinAR occurred ∼250 BC, and peaks occurred around AD 250, 600, 1000, 1350 and 1650. Wavelet power spectrum analysis (confirmed by Fourier analyses) indicated significantly different periodicities throughout the period 4000 BC – AD 1700, including 275 years for the period 4000 BC – 2900 BC, 567 years for the period 2901 BC – 1201 BC, and 350 and 725 years for the period 1200 BC – AD 1700. The long-term, centennial scale variability (∼350 years) may reflect solar forcing (cf the 385-year peak in tree-ring calibrated ¹⁴C activity) but interestingly, there is no obvious link to high frequency forcing, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation. The high resolution component of the record highlights the relevance of varved lake sediment records for understanding erosion dynamics in undisturbed forested catchments and their link to long-term climate dynamics and future climate change.