Response of organic carbon burial to trophic level changes in a shallow eutrophic lake in SE China

Lakes are an important component of terrestrial carbon cycling. As the trend of eutrophication in many lakes continues, the mechanisms of organic carbon (OC) burial remain unclear. This paper aims to understand the distribution of OC and the effect of trophic level changes on OC burial in Chaohu Lake, a shallow eutrophic lake located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, SE China. Two hundred and one surface sediment samples (0–20 cm) and 53 subsurface samples (150–200 cm) from the lake were collected. The OC accumulation rates (OCARs) are relatively low, with an average of 10.01 g/m2/year in the surface sediments. The spatial distribution of the OCARs is similar to that of allochthonous OC. The difference in total phosphate (TP) content between the surface and subsurface sediments (ΔTP) is significantly correlated with the autochthonous OC, suggesting that TP loading is a critical limiting nutrient for the lake's primary productivity. It is concluded that allochthonous OC is the dominant source of total OC in surface sediments compared to autochthonous OC. The primary productivity of Lake Chaohu increased due to increasing nutrient loading. However, the autochthonous OC contributed 11% of the total OC in the surface sediments. This could be ascribed to strong mineralization in the water column or surface sediments.

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