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

Abstract

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 4years in both winter and summer periods using an in situ dialysis technique (1kDa, 10kDa and 50kDa) and traditional frontal filtration and ultrafiltration (5, 0.22 and 0.025μm). 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 (1kDa–0.22μm) 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 (<0.22μm) 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<1kDa fraction.