Enhanced mineralization of sedimentary organic carbon induced by excess carbon from phytoplankton in a eutrophic plateau lake

Abstract

Large additions of organic carbon (OC) have been introduced into the carbon cycle of lakes from algae during the process of lake eutrophication. The impact of eutrophication on OC burial and CO2 fixing has been widely studied; however, there is still a gap regarding the impact of excess OC from algae on sedimentary OC mineralization. In this study, we aim to fill this gap by analyzing in situ measurements. Three pairs of sediment cores collected from a plateau lake (Dianchi Lake) in 2006 and 2014 were used to estimate the accumulation loss rate (ALR) of OC (and thus the total mineralization rate) in the sediment. n-Alkanes, measured from the same sedimentary cores, were used to identify the source of OC. An OC mineralization experiment in a laboratory was used to confirm the enhanced effect of excess phytoplankton carbon on ALR and reveal the potential influence of microorganisms. The results indicate that the sedimentary core (core 3), with high excess OC from algae (located in an algal bloom area), possessed a higher ALR (85.66%) and a higher attenuation coefficient (0.078), indicating the low burial efficiency and short mineralization duration of OC. Sedimentary core 1, controlled by terrestrial OC, had a relatively lower ALR (64.60%) and lower attenuation coefficient (0.029), indicating a high burial efficiency and long period of OC mineralization. The mineralization of OC in core 2 was impacted by terrestrial and endogenous OC, with an ALR of 72.00% and attenuation coefficient of 0.064, which is between that of cores 1 and 3. Excess OC from algae corresponded to an increase in ALR by 32.60% when comparing core 1 to core 3. The increased ALR and attenuation coefficient could be caused by excess OC from algae. Sedimentary OC mineralization indicates that the ALR with dominantly allochthonous OC (64.60%) is much lower than that controlled by autochthonous OC (85.66%). Excess OC from phytoplankton increases the mineralization of OC: not only via increased ALR but also increased mineralization speed. The laboratory experiment on the mixture of algae and sediment suggested that excess phytoplankton OC increased the emission of CO2 by 20–70% (mineralization rate).