Phosphorus Dynamics in a Small Eutrophic Italian Lake

Perrone, U.; Facchinelli, A.; Sacchi, E.

Phosphorus Dynamics in a Small Eutrophic Italian Lake

2008

Perrone, U. | Facchinelli, A. | Sacchi, E.

Phosphorous dynamics within Lake Sirio (NW Italy) were investigated, considering both water and sediments. The total phosphorus (TP) concentration in the water is about 79 μg l-¹ after the winter mixing, that is in homogeneous conditions; then TP content increases up to an average of 360 μg l-¹ in late autumn in the deep hypolimnium (30-45 m). This deep lake portion accounts for only 1/12 of the water volume. Close to the water-sediment interface, TP concentrations up to 530 μg l-¹ are observed. Sediment sampled at depths of 20 and 33 m contains less than 2,000 mg kg-¹ of TP, whereas cores from the deepest sediments (46 m) display TP values of 2,000-4,000 mg kg-¹ at the water-sediment interface, increasing with depth to 16,000 mg kg-¹ at about 60-100 cm. In these deep sediments the main chemical form is the Al-Fe-Mn bound P (about 90% in the high TP cores) and Fe and Mn are also highly enriched (3 and 9 times more than in the shallow sediments respectively). The P-Fe association is confirmed by SEM-EDS and XRD analyses. The vertical distribution of the P content in the water column is consistent with its release from sediments, but in this hypothesis an unrealistic P release rate from 8.1 to 3.0 g m-²y-¹ was estimated. A more complex model is therefore proposed, involving a process of P concentration in the sediments of the central (deepest) part of the lake, and a short term sediment-water exchange. The TP vertical variability and speciation in the cores suggests a change in the sediment retention capacity, connected to the lake shift to more eutrophic conditions.

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