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

• 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: General Medicine; Arctic; Northwest Territories; Arctic Lake
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f78-172; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f78-172

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