Seasonal water-column dynamics of dissolved inorganic carbon stable isotopic compositions (δ13CDIC) in small hardwater lakes in Minnesota and Montana

The carbon stable isotopic value of dissolved inorganic carbon (δ13CDIC) was measured over several years at different depths in the water column in six carbonate-precipitating temperate lakes. δ13CDIC behavior in three of these lakes departed from the conventional model wherein epilimnetic waters are seasonally enriched relative to all hypolimnetic waters, and in general δ13CDIC values in the water column were not readily correlated to parameters such as lake stratification, algal productivity, hydraulic residence time, or water chemistry. Additionally, the processes implicated in generating the δ13CDIC values of individual lakes differ between lakes with similar δ13CDIC compositions. Each lake thus initially appears idiosyncratic, but when the effects of carbonate mineral equilibria, microbial activity, and lake residence time are viewed in terms of the magnitude of distinct DIC pools and fluxes in stratified lakes, generalizations can be made that allow lakes to be grouped by δ13CDIC behavior. We recognize three modes in the relationship between δ13CDIC values and DIC concentration ([DIC]) of individual lakes: (A) δ13CDIC values decreasing with increasing [DIC]; (B) δ13CDIC values increasing with increasing [DIC]; (C) δ13CDIC values decreasing with increasing [DIC] but increasing again at the highest [DIC]. This approach is useful both in understanding δ13CDIC dynamics in modern hardwater lakes and in reconstructing the environmental changes recorded by sedimentary δ13C components in the lacustrine paleorecord.