Nitrate suppresses internal phosphorus loading in an eutrophic lake

Abstract

The presence of nitrate in the hypolimnion of the eutrophic, dimictic Upper Mystic Lake has been previously shown to suppress the release of arsenic from lake sediments during seasonal anoxia, in large part by oxidizing iron (II) and producing iron oxyhydroxides that sorb inorganic arsenic. Because of the importance of internal phosphorus loading in the phosphorus budget of many eutrophic lakes, the chemical similarities between phosphate and arsenate, and the need to account for internal phosphorus loading as part of many lake restoration strategies, we carried out measurements to determine if the presence of nitrate also suppressed the release of phosphorus from the sediments of this lake during anoxia. Observations showed that this was the case. Arsenic, phosphorus, and iron (II) concentrations were strongly correlated in the water column, as expected, and the depths below which phosphorus and iron concentrations increased relative to epilimnetic values was predicted by the depth at which nitrate concentration approached zero. The results suggest that knowledge of a lake’s nitrogen budget may be a useful tool in the design of lake remediation efforts, even though phosphorus is typically the limiting nutrient.