Nitrogen cycling across the sediment-water interface in an eutrophic, artificially oxygenated lake

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.