Evidence from isotopic geochemistry as an indicator of eutrophication of Meiliang Bay in Lake Taihu, China

Abstract

In this paper, Lake Taihu, a large shallow freshwater lake in China, is chosen as an example of reconstruction of eutrophication through the comparison between stable isotopes from dissolved nutrients and plants and water column nutrient parameters and integration of multiple proxies in a sediment core from Meiliang Bay including TN, TP, TOC, C/N, δ15N, δ13C, etc. Differences in aquatic plant species and trophic status between East Taihu Bay and Meiliang Bay are indicated by their variations in δ13C and δ15N of aquatic plants and δ15N of NH4+. A significant influence of external nutrient inputs on Meiliang Bay is reflected in temporal changes in δ15N of NH4+ and hydro-environmental parameters. The synchronous change between δ13C and δ15N values of sedimented organic matter (OM) has been attributed to elevated primary production at the beginning of eutrophication between 1950 and 1990, then recent inverse correlation between them has been caused by the uptake of 15N-enriched inorganic nitrogen by phytoplankton grown under eutrophication and subsequent OM decomposition and denitrification in surface sediments, indicating that the lake has suffered from progressive eutrophication since 1990. Based on the use of a combination of stable isotopes and elemental geochemistry, the eutrophication of Meiliang Bay in Lake Taihu could be better traced. These transitions of the lake eutrophication respectively occurring in the 1950s and 1990s have been suggested as a reflection of growing impacts of human activities, which is coincident with the instrumental data.