Distribution and habitat
An SEM of the diatom Clipeoparvus anatolicus.
Distribution
Clipeoparvus anatolicus is found in a small, extant, volcanic crater-lake Nar Gölü in the inland area of Cappadocia, located in Anatolia, Central Turkey.
Habitat
The lake is thermally and chemically stratified with hypolimnetic, anoxic bottom water. Seasonal varves comprising authigenic carbonate, organic matter and diatoms are deposited annually. The lake lacks any surface outlets and its modern catchment experiences relatively minor human impact.
Lake diatoms were studied from collections of living material and fossilised specimens preserved in sediments spanning the late Holocene.
Annual fieldwork at the lake has revealed that the
- water level of Nar Gölü decreased by 3.4 m between 2001 and 2008.
- water chemistry is weakly alkaline to circumneutral, and slightly saline with sodium, chloride and bicarbonate as the major ions (between 1999 and 2008).