Permanent Sedimentation of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Organic Carbon in a High Arctic Lake

The sediments of Char Lake, Resolute, Northwest Territories, were studied to determine storage rates of nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic carbon which could be compared with retention estimates of N and P and primary production and respiration estimates for organic C. The storage rate for P (0.018 g...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
Main Author: March, L. de
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1978
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f78-172
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f78-172
Description
Summary:The sediments of Char Lake, Resolute, Northwest Territories, were studied to determine storage rates of nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic carbon which could be compared with retention estimates of N and P and primary production and respiration estimates for organic C. The storage rate for P (0.018 g∙m −2 ∙yr −1 ) was 129% of measured retention, storage of N (0.087 g∙m −2 ∙yr −1 ) was 43% of measured retention, and the 1 g∙m −2 ∙yr −1 storage estimate for organic C was 18% of the difference between primary production and respiration. Lacustrine sediments were found to be very unevenly distributed with accumulations from 7 cm to an estimated 3 m in the last 6200 yr and to vary in N, P, and organic C concentrations from place to place. Key words: sedimentation, nutrient budgets, arctic, lake, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus