Abstract
Processes controlling the nitrogen (N) exchange between water and sediment in eutrophic Lake Sempach were studied using three different independent methods: benthic flux chambers, interstitial water data and hypolimnetic mass balances. The sediments released NH +4 (1.1–16.1 mmoles m−2 d−1), NO -2 (0.1–0.4 mmoles m−2 d−1) and dissolved organic N (<0.25 mmoles m−2 d−1). A net NO -3 consumption (2.4–11.1 mmoles m−2 d−1) related to the NO -3 concentrations in the overlying water was observed in all benthic chamber experiments. The flux of the reactive species NO -3 and NH +4 was found to depend on hydrodynamic conditions in the water overlying the sediment. For this reason, benthic chambers overestimated the fluxes of inorganic N compared to the other methods. Thus, in short-term flux chamber experiments the sediment may either become a sink or a source for inorganic N depending on the O2 concentration in the water overlying the sediment and the stirring rate. As demonstrated with a15NO -3 experiment, nitrate-ammonification accounted for less than 12% of the total NO -3 consumption. After six years of artificial oxygenation in Lake Sempach, a decrease in hypolimnetic total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) was observed in the last two years. The occurrence of dense mats of H2S-oxidizingBeggiatoa sp. indicated micro-aerobic conditions at the sediment surface. Under these conditions, a shorter distance between the ecological niches of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria, and therefore a faster NO -3 -transport, can possibly explain the lowering of TIN by enhanced net denitrification.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bender, M., R. A. Jahnke, R. Weiss, W. Martin, D. T., Heggie, J. Orchardo and T. Sowers, 1989. Organic carbon oxidation and benthic nitrogen and silica dynamics in San Clemente Basin, a continental borderland site. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 53, 685–697.
Bendschneider, K. and R. J. Robinson, 1952. A new spectrophotometric method for the determination of nitrite in seawater. J. Mar. Res. 11, 87–96.
Berelson, W. M., D. E. Hammond, K. L. Smith, R. A. Jahnke, A. H. Devol, K. R. Hinga, G. T. Rowe and F. Sayles, 1987. In situ benthic flux measurement devices: bottom lander technology. MTS Journal 21, 26–32.
Boynton, W. R., W. M. Kemp, G. C. Osborne, K. R. Kaumeyer and M. C. Jenkins, 1981. Influence of water circulation rate on in situ measurements of benthic community respiration. Mar. Biol. 65, 185–190.
Brandl, H., 1987. Mikrobielle Prozesse unter oxidationsmittel-limitierten Bedingungen an der Sediment-Wasser-Übergangszone in Seen. Ph. D. thesis. University of Zürich, 201 pp.
Devol, A. H., 1987. Verification of flux measurements made with in situ benthic chambers. Deep-Sea Res. 34, 1007–1026.
Downes, M. T., 1978. An improved hydrazine reduction method for the automated determination of low nitrate levels in freshwater. Water Res. 12, 673–675.
Emerson, S., 1976. Early diagenesis in anaerobic lake sediments: Chemical equilibria in interstitial waters. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 40, 925–934.
Fendinger, N. J. and D. D. Adams, 1987. Nitrogen gas supersaturation in the recent sediments of Lake Erie and two polluted harbors. Wat. Res. 21, 1371–1374.
Fiedler, R. and G. Proksch, 1975. The determination of nitrogen-15 by emission and mass spectrometry in biochemical analysis: A review. Anal. Chim. Acta 78, 1–62.
Fowler, B., J. Drake, D. Hemenway and S. I. Heaney, 1987. An inexpensive water circulation system for studies of chemical exchange using intact sediment cores. Freshw. Biol. 17, 509–511.
Gächter, R., 1987. Lake restoration. Why oxygenation and artificial mixing cannot substitute for a decrease in the external phosphorus loading. Schweiz. Z. Hydrol. 49, 170–185.
Gächter, R. and S. I. Meyer, 1990. Mechanisms controlling fluxes of nutrients across the sediment/water interface in a eutrophic lake, in Sediments: Chemistry and Toxicity of in-Place Pollutants, R. Baudo, J. P. Giesy and H. Muntau (eds.). Lewis Publishers, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI, 131–162.
Gächter, R., S. I. Meyer and A. Mares, 1988. Contribution of bacteria to release and fixation of phosphorus in lake sediments. Limnol. Oceanogr. 33, 1542–1558.
Gächter, R., A. Mares, E. Grieder, A. Zwyssig and P. Höhener, 1989. Auswirkungen der Belüftung und Sauerstoffbegasung auf den P-Haushalt des Sempachersees. Eine Zwischenbilanz nach fünf Jahren Betriebsdauer. Wasser-Energie-Luft 11/12 (1989), 335–341.
Gardner, W. S., T. F. Nalepa and J. M. Malczyk, 1987. Nitrogen mineralization and denitrification in Lake Michigan sediments. Limnol. Oceanogr. 32, 1226–1238.
Henriksen, K. and W. M. Kemp, 1988. Nitrification in estuarine and coastal marine sediments, in Nitrogen Cycling in Coastal Marine Environments, T. H. Blackburn and J. Sørensen (eds.). SCOPE, John Wiley, New York.
Hickey, C. W., 1988. Benthic chamber for use in rivers: Testing against oxygen mass balances. J. Environ. Engineering 114, 828–845.
Höhener, P., 1990. Der Stickstoffhaushalt von Seen, illustriert am Beispiel des Sempachersees. Ph. D. Thesis. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Diss. ETH (Zurich, Switzerland) Nr. 9157, 133 pp.
Jørgensen, B. B. and N. P. Revsbech, 1983. Colorless sulfur bacteria Beggiatoa spp. and Thiovolum spp. in O2 and H2S-microgradients. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 45, 1261–1270.
Jørgensen, B. B. and N. P. Revsbech, 1985. Diffusive boundary layers and the oxygen uptake of sediments and detritus. Limnol. Oceanogr. 30, 111–122.
Kairesalo, T. and T. Matilainen, 1988. The importance of low flow rates to the phosphorus flux between littoral and pelagial zones. Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 23, 2210–2215.
Kemp, W. M., R. L. Wetzel, W. R. Boynton, C. F. D'Elia and J. C. Stevenson, 1982. Nitrogen cycling and estuarine interfaces: Some current concepts and research directions, in Estuarine Comparisons, V. S. Kennedy, (ed.). Academic Press, New York.
Lemmin, U. and D. M. Imboden, 1987. Dynamics of bottom currents in a small lake. Limnol. Oceanogr. 32, 62–75.
Li, Y. H. and S. Gregory, 1974. Diffusion of ions in sea water and deep-sea sediments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 38, 703–714.
Morse, J. W., 1974. Calculation of diffusive fluxes across the sediment-water interface. J. Geophys. Res. 79, 5045–5048.
Nydahl, F., 1978. On the peroxodisulfate oxidation of total nitrogen in waters to nitrate. Water Res. 12, 1123–1130.
Opdyke, B. N., G. Gust and J. R. Ledwell, 1987. Mass transfer from smooth alabaster surfaces in turbulent flows. Geophys. Res. Letters 14, 1131–1134.
Santschi, P. H., P. Bower, U. P. Nyffeler, A. Azevedo and W. S. Broecker, 1983. Estimates of the resistance to chemical transport posed by the deep-sea boundary layer. Limnol. Oceanogr. 28, 899–912.
Santschi, P. H., P. Höhener, G. Benoit and M. Buchholtz, 1990. Chemical processes at the sedimentwater interface. Marine chemistry 34, 344–367.
Seitzinger, S. P., 1988. Denitrification in freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems: ecological and geochemical significane. Limnol. Oceanogr. 33/4, 702–724.
Solorzano, L., 1969. Determination of ammonia in natural waters by the phenolhypochlorite method. Limnol. Oceanogr. 14, 799–801.
Srna, R. F. and A. Baggeley, 1975. Kinetic responses of perturbated marine nitrification systems. J. Water Pollu. Control Fed. 47, 472–486.
Stadelmann, P., 1988. Zustand des Sempachersees vor und nach der Inbetriebnahme der see-internen Massnahmen: Künstlicher Sauerstoffeintrag und Zwangszirkulation. Wasser-Energie-Luft 80, 81–96.
Sundby, B., L. G. Andersson, P. O. J. Hall, A. Iverfeldt, R. M. M. van der Loeff and S. F. G. Westerlund, 1986. The effect of oxygen on release and uptake of cobalt, manganese, iron and phosphate at the sediment-water interface. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 50, 1281–1288.
Sweerts, J. P. and D. DeBeer, 1989. Nitrate in lake sediments measured with a microelectrode. Appl. Environ. Microbiol 55, 754–757.
Sweerts, J. P., V. St Louis and T. E. Cappenberg, 1989. Oxygen concentration profiles and exchange in sediment cores with circulated overlying water. Freshw. Biol. 21, 401–409.
Sweerts, J. P., D. DeBeer, L. P. Nielsen, H. Verdouw, J. C. van den Heuvel, Y. Cohen and T. E. Cappenberg, 1990. Denitrification by sulphur oxidizing Beggiatoa spp. mats on freshwater sediments. Nature 344, 762–763.
Ullman, W. J. and R. C. Aller, 1982. Diffusion coefficients in nearshore marine sediments. Limnol. Oceanogr. 27, 552–556.
van der Loeff, R. M. M., L. G. Anderson, P. O. J. Hall, A. Iverfeldt, A. B. Josefson, B. Sundby and S. F. G. Westerlund, 1984. The asphyxiation technique: An approach to distinguishing between molecular diffusion and biologically mediated transport at the sediment-water interface. Limnol. Oceanogr. 29, 675–686.
Weast, R. C., M. J. Astle and W. H. Beyer. (eds.), 1985. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 66th edition. Boca Raton, Florida.
Wimbush, M. and W. Munk, 1970. The benthic boundary layer, in The Sea, Vol. 4, M. N. Hill (ed.). Wiley, New York.
Wüest, A., 1987. Ursprung und Grösse von Mischungsprozessen im Hypolimnion natürlicher Seen. Ph. D. Thesis. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Diss ETH (Zurich, Switzerland) Nr. 8350, 144 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Höhener, P., Gächter, R. Nitrogen cycling across the sediment-water interface in an eutrophic, artificially oxygenated lake. Aquatic Science 56, 115–132 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00877203
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00877203