Abstract

In many lakes, the physical and chemical characteristics are monitored for surface waters but not for deep waters. Yet, deep waters may be important for understanding the dynamics of lake water chemistry variables over the year. In this study, multiple regression models have been created for five different variables, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, total organic carbon, dissolved oxygen (DO) and iron, in the deep water for 61 Swedish temperate or subarctic lakes. The investigated season was February to October, depending on the data availability. Regressions used the corresponding variables from the surface water as well as different morphometric parameters as independent variables. It was possible to construct meaningful models (r (2) > 0.65; p < 0.05) for most of the variables and months. However, it was not possible to attain this criterion for some months regarding the DO concentration. Surface water concentrations were in general most important for predicting corresponding deep water concentrations. An exception was that during summer, DO differed considerably between surface waters and deep waters and voluminous lakes had particularly high DO concentrations in deep waters. No cross-systems relationship could be found between deepwater hypoxia and total phosphorus in deep waters during summer when phosphorus diffusion from sediments is most likely. A mass-balance modelling example was applied to illustrate the use of the produced models. These findings may provide a better understanding of the dynamics of these five variables in temperate or subarctic lakes.

Keywords

Lake; Morphometry; Mass-balance; Deep water; Water quality

Published in

Environmental Modeling and Assessment
2015, Volume: 20, number: 5, pages: 411-423
Publisher: SPRINGER

SLU Authors

• Bryhn, Andreas

  • Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all


UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences
Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-015-9456-4

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/75387