Using sediment geochemical records to infer past lake-water total phosphorus concentrations at a site with high internal P loading, Lake Søbygaard, Denmark

In lakes where phosphorus (P) supply is dominated by external loads, long-term mean lake-water total phosphorus (TP) concentrations can be successfully reconstructed from sediment P profiles and dating using the Sediment-Inferred lake-water Total Phosphorous (SI-TP) mass balance model. However, it h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of paleolimnology 2023-04, Vol.69 (4), p.345-357
Main Authors: Boyle, John, Moyle, Madeleine, Søndergaard, Martin, Jeppesen, Erik
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Climate Change
Diagenesis
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Environmental degradation
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Geology
Lakes
Mass balance
Model testing
Original Paper
Paleontology
Phosphorus
Physical Geography
Records
Sediment
Sedimentology
Sediments
Water circulation
Water column
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Summary:In lakes where phosphorus (P) supply is dominated by external loads, long-term mean lake-water total phosphorus (TP) concentrations can be successfully reconstructed from sediment P profiles and dating using the Sediment-Inferred lake-water Total Phosphorous (SI-TP) mass balance model. However, it has not yet been shown that the model is applicable at lakes with high internal P loading, where sediment diagenesis releases P to the water column and degrades the sediment P record. Here we apply the SI-TP model to Lake Søbygaard in Denmark, a shallow lake with exceptionally high internal P loading for several decades since the external loading was reduced by 80–90% in 1982. Our aim was to test the impact of this sediment degradation on P record integrity. Using six published sediment P records collected over the period 1985–2004, we applied the model without site-specific calibration. Degradation of the sediment P record by diagenesis was observed, and occurred at a rate consistent with theoretical models, offering a potential approach to correct for degradation. Even neglecting degradation, the resulting SI-TP record was found to be similar in magnitude and temporal trend to the corresponding monitored TP values. From this test of SI-TP model performance at Lake Søbygaard we conclude that the model has the potential to be more widely applied at lakes with high internal P loading.
ISSN:0921-2728
1573-0417
DOI:10.1007/s10933-022-00276-3