Quantitative reconstruction of the paleosalinity in the Daihai Lake, Inner Mongolia, China

Ostracods are small bivalved aquatic crustaceans. They secrete shells of low-Mg calcite that are often preserved in lake sediments. Recent work has shown that the uptake of trace elements (especially Mg and Sr) into the shell may be a function of the salinity and temperature of the host water. We measured Sr/Ca ratios in living ostracod valves from the species of genus Limnocythere cf. inopinata and Sr²⁺/Ca²⁺ ratios of the host water to calculate distribution coefficient of genus Limnocythere cf. inopinata in the Daihai Lake. A function for Sr²⁺/Ca²⁺ ratio and salinity was established by measuring a series of Sr²⁺/Ca²⁺ ratios and salinities of the lake water in different places of the Daihai Lake. Finally paleosalinities of the lake water were quantitatively reconstructed by the Sr/Ca ratios of ostracod shells of the same species in sediment core of the Daihai Lake.