Movement of Phosphate and Other Ions From and Through Lake Muds

1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 653-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. B. N. Hynes ◽  
B. J. Greib

Laboratory experiments showed that sheets of polyethylene or a layer of sand placed on the surface of undisturbed lake mud reduce the loss of oxygen in the overlying water and greatly decrease the rate of release of phosphate, iron, and ammonium from the sediment. Polyethylene laid on disturbed mud produced the same effects, and it also reduced the rate of release of total ions as measured by electrical conductivity.Experiments with P32 showed that phosphate moves readily through undisturbed mud, and that the movement is not a biotic process. We also found that phosphate and ammonium injected 4 cm below the mud–water interface move upwards into the water, and that this applies to both a rich calcareous mud and a poor acid peaty one.We concluded that early reports of little movement of phosphate through muds are erroneous, possibly because they are based on short experiments, and that there is a great potential store of nutrient salts in enriched muds. This would greatly delay recovery of lakes that have been rendered eutrophic by pollution, so we suggest that polyethylene sheet laid on the sediments of valued lakes may serve to rehabilitate them more rapidly.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 2350
Author(s):  
Elisa Petranich ◽  
Matteo Crosera ◽  
Elena Pavoni ◽  
Jadran Faganeli ◽  
Stefano Covelli

The cycling of metal(loid)s at the sediment–water interface (SWI) was evaluated at two selected sites (VN1 and VN3) in an active fish farm in the Grado Lagoon (Northern Adriatic, Italy). In situ experiments using a transparent benthic chamber and the collection of short sediment cores were performed, to investigate the behavior of metal(loid)s in the solid (sediments) and dissolved (porewaters) phases. Total and labile concentration of metal(loid)s were also determined in sediments, to quantify their potential mobility. Comparable total concentrations were found at both sites, excluding As, Mn, Pb and V, which were higher at VN3. Metal(loid) porewater profiles showed a diagenetic sequence and a close dependence with redox (suboxic/anoxic) conditions in the surface sediments. Positive diffusive fluxes along with benthic fluxes, particularly at the more oxic site, VN1, were found for almost all metal(loid)s, indicating their tendency to migrate towards the overlying water column. Despite sediments at two sites exhibiting high total metal(loid) concentrations and moderate effluxes at the SWI, the results suggest that they are hardly remobilized from the sediments. Recycling of metal(loid)s from the SWI would not constitute a threat for the aquatic trophic chain in the fish farm.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Burt ◽  
H. Thomas ◽  
K. Fennel ◽  
E. Horne

Abstract. Exchanges between sediment pore waters and the overlying water column play a significant role in the chemical budgets of many important chemical constituents. Direct quantification of such benthic fluxes requires explicit knowledge of the sediment properties and biogeochemistry. Alternatively, changes in water-column properties near the sediment-water interface can be exploited to gain insight into the sediment biogeochemistry and benthic fluxes. Here, we apply a 1-D diffusive mixing model to near-bottom water-column profiles of 224Ra activity in order to yield vertical eddy diffusivities (KZ), based upon which we assess the diffusive exchange of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), nutrients and oxygen (O2), across the sediment-water interface in a coastal inlet, Bedford Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada. Numerical model results are consistent with the assumptions regarding a constant, single benthic source of 224Ra, the lack of mixing by advective processes, and a predominantly benthic source and sink of DIC and O2, respectively, with minimal water-column respiration in the deep waters of Bedford Basin. Near-bottom observations of DIC, O2 and nutrients provide flux ratios similar to Redfield values, suggesting that benthic respiration of primarily marine organic matter is the dominant driver. Furthermore, a relative deficit of nitrate in the observed flux ratios indicates that denitrification also plays a role in the oxidation of organic matter, although its occurrence was not strong enough to allow us to detect the corresponding AT fluxes out of the sediment. Finally, comparison with other carbon sources reveal the observed benthic DIC release as a significant contributor to the Bedford Basin carbon system.


2013 ◽  
Vol 726-731 ◽  
pp. 288-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huan Guang Deng ◽  
Dong Qi Wang ◽  
Zhen Lou Chen

Yangtze estuary data, collected over three years, indicates that the temporal and spatial distributions of the environmental gradients reflect complicated seasonal changes and spatial differences in the exchange flux of the dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN= NH4++ NO3-+ NO2-) across the sediment-water interface. Overall in northern sites of Yangtze estuary, sediment was a source of ammonium (NH4+) (-3.67~10.65 mmol·m-2·d-1) probably because of higher salinities. Sediment was a sink for NH4+ in southern sites (-18.45~3.33 mmol·m-2·d-1) during most years. The exchange behavior of nitrate (NO3-) showed temporal and spatial variation from the upper to lower estuary and ranged from-32.8 mmol·m-2·d-1 to 35.8 mmol·m-2·d-1. The interface exchange direction of ammonium was affected by NH4+ concentration, but the relationship between NO3- concentration and the direction of flux was not obvious. The concentration of nitrite (NO2-) was very low and its interface flux was not related to DIN concentration. Overall, the sediment of Yangtze Estuarine tidal flat was a source of DIN to overlying water in the spring, but a sink for DIN during the other three seasons of the year.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Gao ◽  
Martine Leermakers ◽  
Annelies Pede ◽  
Aurelie Magnier ◽  
Koen Sabbe ◽  
...  

Environmental contextContaminated sediments can have a large and lasting effect on marine ecosystems. It was discovered that significant amounts of pollutants, especially arsenic, were released from contaminated sediments during a phytoplankton bloom in the Belgian Continental Zone. Once released to the water column, these pollutants can accumulate up marine food chains and be a source of contaminants to humans. AbstractField data from the Belgian Continental Zone showed elevated trace metal concentrations at the sediment–water interface after the occurrence of a phytoplankton bloom. In the present study, laboratory incubation experiments were used to investigate the effect of the phytodetritus remineralisation process on the release of trace metals from contaminated muddy sediments. This remineralisation process was followed by the measurement of chlorophyll-a and dissolved organic carbon levels in the top sediment layers. Two gel techniques, diffusive equilibrium in thin films (DET) and diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT), were used to assess vertical metal profiles in the sediment pore waters and to calculate the metal effluxes. These metal effluxes compared very well with the trace metal concentration variations in the overlying water of the sediment. Much higher effluxes of Mn, Co and As were observed after 2 days of incubation in the microcosms which received additions of phytodetritus. This trend gradually decreased after 7 days of incubation, suggesting that the elevated efflux of trace metals was proportional to the quantity of phytodetritus mineralised at the sediment–water interface. The release of large amounts of toxic elements from the sediments after phytoplankton blooms can therefore potentially affect the marine ecosystem in the Belgian Continental Zone.


2017 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 1455-1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengnan Zhao ◽  
Xiaohong Shi ◽  
Changyou Li ◽  
Sheng Zhang ◽  
Biao Sun ◽  
...  

Overlying water and sediment samples were collected from 11 locations in Ulansuhai Lake in June of 2012 to determine the concentration of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) in the interstitial water, overlying water and sediment and to estimate the diffusion flux of DIP at the sediment–water interface. The DIP levels in overlying water were 0.004–0.185 mg/L (average = 0.062 mg/L), while they were 0.05–0.25 mg/L (average = 0.124 mg/L) in the interstitial water in the 0–2 cm surface sediment. Moreover, the annual mean exchange flux of DIP in the sediment was between −0.092 mg/m2·d and 0.053 mg/m2·d, and this occurred via internal source action in most areas. After area weighting, it is estimated that the exchange capacity of DIP at the sediment–water interface of the Ulansuhai Lake is 1.30 t/a. These findings indicate internal loading of phosphorus in sediment of the Ulansuhai Lake; thus, the diffusion of DIP in the interstitial water has effects on the lake, with a degree of influence of 2.7% to 81.5%.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Xiaoping Yu ◽  
Yafei Guo ◽  
Qin Wang ◽  
Tianlong Deng

Arsenic species including arsenite As(III), arsenate As(V), monomethylarsenate (MMA), dimethylarsenate (DMA), and some diagenetic constituents (Fe, Mn, and S2−) in porewaters along with the unstable arsenic species in sediments collected from a typical intertidal zone of Bohai Bay in China were measured. Their vertical distributions were subsequently obtained to reveal the transportation and transformation characteristics of arsenic at the intertidal sediment-water interface (SWI). Results show that the reduction of As(V) by microorganisms occurred in sediments, but the methylation of arsenic by microorganisms was weak in the intertidal zone. The distribution of As(V) was mainly controlled by Mn, whereas As(III) appeared to be more likely controlled by Fe. Arsenic in sediments mainly existed in a stable state, so that only little arsenic could be released from sediments when the environmental conditions at the SWI are changed. As(III) diffused from porewaters to the overlying water while the opposite was true for As(V) at that time when the samples were collected. The total diffusion direction for arsenic across the SWI was from porewaters to the overlying water with a total diffusive flux estimated at 1.23 mg·m−2·a−1.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Wang ◽  
Qing Wu ◽  
Yuping Han

Abstract The incubation experiments focused on altering concentration gradients of nitrogen between sediment and overlying water to examine the diffusion flux of ammonium-nitrogen (NH4+) and nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-) at sediment-water interface. In this study, the diffusion flux can be estimated based on calculating the average of the net change rate of nutrient concentrations in the overlying water. For the incubation experiment of different TN concentrations in the sediment, the results showed that the diffusion flux of ammonia at sediment-water interface is -52.57~84.57 mg·m-2·d-1, and for nitrate diffusion flux, the changing range during the incubation experiment is -110.13~143.25 mg·m-2·d-1. For the incubation experiment of different nitrogen concentrations in the overlying water, the results of NH4+-N diffusion flux in L, M, H treatment were 3.37, -4.94, -3.84 mg·m-2·d-1, respectively. And the average diffusion flux of nitrate in L (0 mg NO3--N, 0 mg NH4+-N), M (0.5 mg NO3--N, 1.5 mg NH4+-N) and H (1 mg NO3--N, 2.5 mg NH4+-N) treatment were 12.30, 10.39 and 7.11 mg·m-2·d-1. Results highlighted that concentrations gradient of nutrients were indeed an important factor affecting the diffusion flux at sediment-water interface. In addition, the diffusion of nutrients at sediment-water interface in aquatic ecosystem is not only controlled by concentration gradients, some other factors such as incoming water, hydrodynamics, dissolved oxygen content, sediment structure, biological disturbance, horizontal migration and diffusion of nutrients and turbulent diffusion caused by wind and wave, are equally important.


Author(s):  
Harmesa ◽  
A’an Johan Wahyudi

The biogeochemical cycle of trace metals is very likely affected by the global change in the ocean, especially due to the increasing of sea surface temperature and acidity. Thus, assessing biogeochemical cycle of trace metals will beneficial in elucidating the potential impact of climate change as well as ocean acidification. The assessment of the biogeochemical cycle of trace metals can be performed by measuring trace metals fluxes crossing the sediment-water interface. The main challenge in this measurement is the difficulty of measuring metal concentrations at trace levels due to either physical factors or biological factors that can affect the total flux. Sediment porewater profile and in situ benthic incubation are the two most commonly used methods for measuring trace metals fluxes from sediment to the overlying water or vice versa. The coefficient of diffusion and gradient of concentration are the two most important values in the sediment porewater profile method, while the constant volume involved in the container during the experiment is an important part of the in situ benthic incubation method. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of both measurement methods deeply and predict the challenges faced in its implementation in Indonesia. Keywords: Benthic fluxes; Overlying water; Porewater; Sediment; Trace metals


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