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Nitrogen, phosphorus, particulate and colloidal carbon content of sedimenting seston of a hard-water lake

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OSTI ID:7307051
Sedimenting seston was collected by means of an improved sedimentation trap biweekly at 4-meter intervals for over two years in a hard-water lake of southern Michigan. Chemical analyses of the sedimenting seston indicated significant spatial and temporal changes. A marked displacement of phosphorus from the epilimnion into the metalimnion was found in mid-summer. High rates of CaCO/sub 3/ precipitation, induced by photosynthesis, from the epilimnion facilitated nutrient removal to the hypolimnion. During fall overturn an average of 0.17 ..mu..g m/sup -2/ day/sup -1/ of total phosphorus was resuspended. Total nitrogen content of the sedimenting seston changed throughout the year; a marked displacement to the hypolimnion occurred in late summer. Pronounced changes in the particulate organic carbon fraction, strongly related to primary productivity, were not as apparent as other parameters of the seston. Over one-third of the total calcium content is in the form of colloidal CaCO/sub 3/ that forms a major sink for inorganic and organic nutrients.
OSTI ID:
7307051
Report Number(s):
COO-1599-81
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English