Photoproduction of dissolved organic carbon and inorganic nutrients from resuspended lake sediments

Abstract

Sediments exposed to simulated solar radiation can serve as an important source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to surrounding waters. However, it is still unclear if dissolved nutrients can be photoproduced from lake sedimentary organic matter. In this study, a series of laboratory-based experiments was conducted to address the photoproduction of dissolved inorganic nutrients and DOC from resuspended Taihu Lake sediments. Dissolved inorganic nutrients and DOC were photoproduced after 8-h irradiation. The released NH₄⁺, NO_x⁻, and DOC levels ranged from 3.57 to 12.14, 1.43 to 6.43, and 24.17 to 69.17 μmol L⁻¹, respectively. The variation in the amount released indicated that sediment source had an effect on DOC and nutrient photorelease. More DOC and nutrients were released from higher concentration suspensions. However, due to the light absorption by suspended sediment, less DOC and nutrients were released from per gram of suspended sediment in high concentration suspensions. The decrease in DOC and increase in dissolved inorganic nitrogen during the last 2-h irradiation indicated that the photoproduction of inorganic nutrients proceeded via direct photodissolution of suspended sediments and subsequent photodegradation of the produced dissolved organic matter. Our results demonstrated that the photoproduction flux of NH₄⁺ and NO_x⁻ accounts for 12.3 and 6.5 % of wet deposition, respectively, which suggest that the photodissolution of suspended sediment could be a potential source of DOC and dissolved nutrients in shallow water ecosystems.

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