Svetlana A. Zabelina

Decrease of concentration and colloidal fraction of organic carbon and trace elements in response to the anomalously hot summer 2010 in a humic boreal lake.

The colloidal distribution and size fractionation of organic carbon (OC), major elements and trace elements (TE) were studied in a seasonally stratified, organic-rich boreal lake, Lake Svyatoe, located in the European subarctic zone (NW Russia, Arkhangelsk region). This study took place over the course of 4 years in both winter and summer periods using an in situ dialysis technique (1 kDa, 10 kDa and 50 kDa) and traditional frontal filtration and ultrafiltration (5, 0.22 and 0.025 μm). We observed a systematic difference in dissolved elements and colloidal fractions between summer and winter periods with the highest proportion of organic and organo-ferric colloids (1 kDa-0.22 μm) observed during winter periods. The anomalously hot summer of 2010 in European Russia produced surface water temperatures of approximately 30°C, which were 10° above the usual summer temperatures and brought about crucial changes in element speciation and size fractionation. In August 2010, the concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) decreased by more than 30% compared to normal period, while the relative proportion of organic colloids decreased from 70-80% to only 20-30% over the full depth of the water column. Similarly, the proportion of colloidal Fe decreased from 90-98% in most summers and winters to approximately 60-70% in August 2010. During this hot summer, measurable and significant (>30% compared to other periods) decreases in the colloidal fractions of Ca, Mg, Sr, Ba, Al, Ti, Ni, As, V, Co, Y, all rare earth elements (REEs), Zr, Hf, Th and U were also observed. In addition, dissolved (<0.22 μm) TE concentrations decreased by a factor of 2 to 6 compared to previously investigated periods. The three processes most likely responsible for such a crucial change in element biogeochemistry with elevated water temperature are 1) massive phytoplankton bloom, 2) enhanced mineralization (respiration) of allochthonous dissolved organic matter by heterotrophic aerobic bacterioplankton and 3) photo-degradation of DOM and photo-chemical liberation of organic-bound TE. While the first process may have caused significant decreases in the total dissolved concentration of micronutrients (a factor of 2 to 5 for Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd and a factor of >100 for Co), the second and third factors could have brought about the decrease of allochthonous DOC concentration as well as the concentration and proportion of organic and organo-mineral colloidal forms of non-essential low-soluble trace elements present in the form of organic colloids (Al, Y, Ti, Zr, Hf, Th, Pb, all REEs). It can be hypothesized that climate warming in high latitudes capable of significantly raising surface water temperatures will produce a decrease in the colloidal fraction of most trace elements and, as a result, an increase in the most labile low molecular weight LMW(<1 kDa) fraction.

Seasonal biogeochemical and microbiological studies of small lakes in taiga zone of northwestern Russian (Arkhangelsk Province)

AbatractThe results of biogeochemical and microbiological studies of three small lakes in southwestern Arkhangelsk province are presented. The lakes differ in their morphometric characteristics, thermal and oxygen regimes, and the extent of anthropogenic impact they experience. In the periods of summer and winter stratification, anaerobic water layers with higher phosphates, ammonium, and sulfide sulfur (hydrogen sulfide) are found to form in the bottom horizon of deep-water zones of the lakes. The highest concentrations of sulfide sulfur (150–210 μg dm−3) were recorded in the shallow Beloe Lake during winter low-water period, while in summer, sulfide concentration did not differ from those obtained in other lakes (∼10 μg dm−3). The abundance of sulfate-reducing bacteria in lake bottom sediments varied from 10 to 100000 cell cm−3, and the rate of sulfate reduction process varied from 29 to 3746 μg S dm−3 day−1. Seasonal variations were revealed in hydrogen sulfide distribution over the water column and in the rate of sulfate reduction process in the upper horizons of bottom sediments in the examined lakes.

Hydrological and Hydrochemical Characteristics of the Iron-Manganese Meromictic Freshwater Lake Svetloe (Arkhangelsk Region)

Received 12.01.2017, received in revised form 07.07.2017, accepted 26.10.2017, published online 01.02.2018 Meromictic lakes are a unique model for the study of the anaerobic processes of organic matter degradation, such as methanogenesis and sulphate reduction. As a result of activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria hydrogen sulfide accumulates in monimolimnion of these lakes, whereas chemocline is the area of sharp vertical gradients of physical and chemical conditions and as a consequence is the ecological niche for different planktonic microorganisms. This paper describes some characteristics of meromictic freshwater Lake Svetloe, located in the north of the Arkhangelsk region, for which ironmanganese type of meromixia was defined. The distribution of the studied parameters corresponds to the distribution of the specific for meromictic lakes water layers formed in the presence of stable stratification. In the transition layer (chemocline) a sharp decrease in the oxygen content (almost to the analytical zero) is accompanied by an equally sharp increase in the value of the water conductivity and the emergence of dissolved hydrogen sulfide in the water. In the anaerobic zone the conductivity values remain high and accumulation of nutrients, iron, manganese, and hydrogen sulphide (average 30 mg/l) occurs. Besides, the significant decrease in the content of dissolved sulphate caused by its consumption by sulfate-reducing bacteria was noted in this layer. The number of sulphate-reducing bacteria in the water column during the time of observation varied in the range of 10 – 106 cells/ml with the highest content in the chemocline zone, where the maximum amounts of hydrogen sulphide (up to 130 mg/l) were also found.