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At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources

USGS2023

Outlining potential biomarkers of exposure and effect to critical minerals: Nutritionally essential trace elements and the rare earth elements

Emerging and low-carbon technologies and innovations are driving a need for domestic sources, sustainable use, and availability of critical minerals (CMs)—those vital to the national and economic security of the United States. Understanding the known and potential health effects of exposures to such mineral commodities can inform prudent and environmentally responsible handling and harvesting. We review the occurrence, use, predominant exposure pathways, and adverse outcome pathways (AOP) for human and fish receptors of those CMs that are nutritionally essential trace metals (specifically, cobalt, chromium, manganese, nickel, and zinc), as well as the rare earth elements. Biological responses to some elements having comparable biogeochemistry can sometimes be similar. Candidate quantifiable biomarkers for assessing potential AOP are conveyed.

Toxics↗

USGS2020

Ideas and perspectives: A strategic assessment of methane and nitrous oxide measurements in the marine environment

>In the current era of rapid climate change, accurate characterization of climate-relevant gas dynamics – namely production, consumption, and net emissions – is required for all biomes, especially those ecosystems most susceptible to the impact of change. Marine environments include regions that act as net sources or sinks for numerous climate-active trace gases including methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). The temporal and spatial distributions of CH4 and N2O are controlled by the interaction of complex biogeochemical and physical processes. To evaluate and quantify how these mechanisms affect marine CH4 and N2O cycling requires a combination of traditional scientific disciplines including oceanography, microbiology, and numerical modeling. Fundamental to these efforts is ensuring that the datasets produced by independent scientists are comparable and interoperable. Equally critical is transparent communication within the research community about the technical improvements required to increase our collective understanding of marine CH4 and N2O. A workshop sponsored by Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) was organized to enhance dialogue and collaborations pertaining to marine CH4 and N2O. Here, we summarize the outcomes from the workshop to describe the challenges and opportunities for near-future CH4 and N2O research in the marine environment.

Biogeosciences↗

USGS2025

Reviews and syntheses: Variable inundation across Earth's terrestrial ecosystems

The structure, function, and dynamics of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems are profoundly influenced by how often (frequency) and how long (duration) they are inundated with water. A diverse array of natural and human-engineered systems experience temporally variable inundation whereby they fluctuate between inundated and non-inundated states. Variable inundation spans extreme events to predictable sub-daily cycles. Variably inundated ecosystems (VIEs) include hillslopes, non-perennial streams, wetlands, floodplains, temporary ponds, tidal systems, storm-impacted coastal zones, and human-engineered systems. VIEs are diverse in terms of inundation regimes, water chemistry and flow velocity, soil and sediment properties, vegetation, and many other properties. The spatial and temporal scales of variable inundation are vast, ranging from sub-meter to whole landscapes and from sub-hourly to multi-decadal. The broad range of system types and scales makes it challenging to predict the hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecology, and physical evolution of VIEs. Despite all experiencing the loss and gain of an overlying water column, VIEs are rarely considered together in conceptual, theoretical, modeling, or measurement frameworks and approaches. Studying VIEs together has the potential to generate mechanistic understanding that is transferable across a much broader range of environmental conditions, relative to knowledge generated by studying any one VIE type. We postulate that enhanced transferability will be important for predicting changes in VIE function in response to global change. Here we aim to catalyze cross-VIE science that studies drivers and impacts of variable inundation across Earth's VIEs. To this end, we complement expert mini-reviews of eight major VIE systems with overviews of VIE-relevant methods and challenges associated with scale. We conclude with perspectives on how cross-VIE science can derive transferable understanding via unifying conceptual models in which the impacts of variable inundation are studied across multi-dimensional environmental space.

Biogeosciences↗

USGS2020

Development of a submerged aquatic vegetation growth model in the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere–Wave–Sediment Transport (COAWST v3.4) model

The coupled biophysical interactions between submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), hydrodynamics (currents and waves), sediment dynamics, and nutrient cycling have long been of interest in estuarine environments. Recent observational studies have addressed feedbacks between SAV meadows and their role in modifying current velocity, sedimentation, and nutrient cycling. To represent these dynamic processes in a numerical model, the presence of SAV and its effect on hydrodynamics (currents and waves) and sediment dynamics was incorporated into the open-source Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere–Wave–Sediment Transport (COAWST) model. In this study, we extend the COAWST modeling framework to account for dynamic changes of SAV and associated epiphyte biomass. Modeled SAV biomass is represented as a function of temperature, light, and nutrient availability. The modeled SAV community exchanges nutrients, detritus, dissolved inorganic carbon, and dissolved oxygen with the water-column biogeochemistry model. The dynamic simulation of SAV biomass allows the plants to both respond to and cause changes in the water column and sediment bed properties, hydrodynamics, and sediment transport (i.e., a two-way feedback). We demonstrate the behavior of these modeled processes through application to an idealized domain and then apply the model to a eutrophic harbor where SAV dieback is a result of anthropogenic nitrate loading and eutrophication. These cases demonstrate an advance in the deterministic modeling of coupled biophysical processes and will further our understanding of future ecosystem change.

Geoscientific Model Development↗

USGS2014

Modelling methane emissions from natural wetlands by development and application of the TRIPLEX-GHG model

A new process-based model TRIPLEX-GHG was developed based on the Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS), coupled with a new methane (CH 4 ) biogeochemistry module (incorporating CH 4 production, oxidation, and transportation processes) and a water table module to investigate CH 4 emission processes and dynamics that occur in natural wetlands. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the most sensitive parameters to evaluate CH 4 emission processes from wetlands are r (defined as the CH 4 to CO 2 release ratio) and Q 10 in the CH 4 production process. These two parameters were subsequently calibrated to data obtained from 19 sites collected from approximately 35 studies across different wetlands globally. Being heterogeneously spatially distributed, r ranged from 0.1 to 0.7 with a mean value of 0.23, and the Q 10 for CH 4 production ranged from 1.6 to 4.5 with a mean value of 2.48. The model performed well when simulating magnitude and capturing temporal patterns in CH 4 emissions from natural wetlands. Results suggest that the model is able to be applied to different wetlands under varying conditions and is also applicable for global-scale simulations.

Geoscientific Model Development↗

USGS2014

Resolving terrestrial ecosystem processes along a subgrid topographic gradient for an earth-system model

Soil moisture is a crucial control on surface water and energy fluxes, vegetation, and soil carbon cycling. Earth-system models (ESMs) generally represent an areal-average soil-moisture state in gridcells at scales of 50–200 km and as a result are not able to capture the nonlinear effects of topographically-controlled subgrid heterogeneity in soil moisture, in particular where wetlands are present. We addressed this deficiency by building a subgrid representation of hillslope-scale topographic gradients, TiHy (Tiled-hillslope Hydrology), into the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) land model (LM3). LM3-TiHy models one or more representative hillslope geometries for each gridcell by discretizing them into land model tiles hydrologically coupled along an upland-to-lowland gradient. Each tile has its own surface fluxes, vegetation, and vertically-resolved state variables for soil physics and biogeochemistry. LM3-TiHy simulates a gradient in soil moisture and water-table depth between uplands and lowlands in each gridcell. Three hillslope hydrological regimes appear in non-permafrost regions in the model: wet and poorly-drained, wet and well-drained, and dry; with large, small, and zero wetland area predicted, respectively. Compared to the untiled LM3 in stand-alone experiments, LM3-TiHy simulates similar surface energy and water fluxes in the gridcell-mean. However, in marginally wet regions around the globe, LM3-TiHy simulates shallow groundwater in lowlands, leading to higher evapotranspiration, lower surface temperature, and higher leaf area compared to uplands in the same gridcells. Moreover, more than four-fold larger soil carbon concentrations are simulated globally in lowlands as compared with uplands. We compared water-table depths to those simulated by a recent global model-observational synthesis, and we compared wetland and inundated areas diagnosed from the model to observational datasets. The comparisons demonstrate that LM3-TiHy has the capability to represent some of the controls of these hydrological variables, but also that improvement in parameterization and input datasets are needed for more realistic simulations. We found large sensitivity in model-diagnosed wetland and inundated area to the depth of conductive soil and the parameterization of macroporosity. With improved parameterization and inclusion of peatland biogeochemical processes, the model could provide a new approach to investigating the vulnerability of Boreal peatland carbon to climate change in ESMs.

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences↗

USGS2020

Spatiotemporal variability of light attenuation and net ecosystem metabolism in a back-barrier estuary

Quantifying system-wide biogeochemical dynamics and ecosystem metabolism in estuaries is often attempted using a long-term continuous record at a single site or short-term records at multiple sites due to sampling limitations that preclude long-term monitoring. However, differences in the dominant primary producer at a given location (e.g., phytoplankton versus benthic producers) control diel variations in dissolved oxygen and associated ecosystem metabolism, and they may confound metabolic estimates that do not account for this variability. We hypothesize that even in shallow, well-mixed estuaries there is strong spatiotemporal variability in ecosystem metabolism due to benthic and water-column properties, as well as ensuing feedbacks to sediment resuspension, light attenuation, and primary production. We tested this hypothesis by measuring hydrodynamic properties, biogeochemical variables (fluorescent dissolved organic matter – fDOM, turbidity, chlorophyll a fluorescence, dissolved oxygen), and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) over 1 year at 15 min intervals at paired channel (unvegetated) and shoal (vegetated by eelgrass) sites in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland–Virginia, USA, a shallow back-barrier estuary. Light attenuation ( K dPAR ) at all sites was dominated by turbidity from suspended sediment, with lower contributions from fDOM and chlorophyll a . However, there was significant seasonal variability in the resuspension–shear stress relationship on the vegetated shoals, but not in adjacent unvegetated channels. This indicated that K dPAR on the shoals was mediated by submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and possibly microphytobenthos presence in the summer, which reduced resuspension and therefore K dPAR . We also found that gross primary production ( P g ) and K dPAR were significantly negatively correlated on the shoals and uncorrelated in the channels, indicating that P g over the vegetated shoals is controlled by a feedback loop between benthic stabilization by SAV and/or microphytobenthos, sediment resuspension, and light availability. Metabolic estimates indicated substantial differences in net ecosystem metabolism between vegetated and unvegetated sites, with the former tending towards net autotrophy in the summer. Ongoing trends of SAV loss in this and other back-barrier estuaries suggest that these systems may also shift towards net heterotrophy, reducing their effectiveness as long-term carbon sinks. With regards to temporal variability, we found that varying sampling frequency between 15 min and 1 d resulted in comparable mean values of biogeochemical variables, but extreme values were missed by daily sampling. In fact, daily resampling minimized the variability between sites and falsely suggested spatial homogeneity in biogeochemistry, emphasizing the need for high-frequency sampling. This study confirms that properly quantifying ecosystem metabolism and associated biogeochemical variability requires characterization of the diverse estuarine environments, even in well-mixed systems, and demonstrates the deficiencies introduced by infrequent sampling to the interpretation of spatial variability.

Maryland, Virginia↗

USGS2022

Terrestrial ecosystem modeling with IBIS: Progress and future vision

Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVM) are powerful tools for studying complicated ecosystem processes and global changes. This review article synthesizes the developments and applications of the Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS), a DGVM, over the past two decades. IBIS has been used to evaluate carbon, nitrogen, and water cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, vegetation changes, land-atmosphere interactions, land-aquatic system integration, and climate change impacts. Here we summarize model development work since IBIS v2.5, covering hydrology (evapotranspiration, groundwater, lateral routing), vegetation dynamics (plant functional type, land cover change), plant physiology (phenology, photosynthesis, carbon allocation, growth), biogeochemistry (soil carbon and nitrogen processes, greenhouse gas emissions), impacts of natural disturbances (drought, insect damage, fire) and human induced land use changes, and computational improvements. We also summarize IBIS model applications around the world in evaluating ecosystem productivity, carbon and water budgets, water use efficiency, natural disturbance effects, and impacts of climate change and land use change on the carbon cycle. Based on this review, visions of future cross-scale, cross-landscape and cross-system model development and applications are discussed.

Journal of Resources and Ecology↗

USGS2001

Seasonal habitat-use patterns of nekton in a tide-restricted and unrestricted New England salt marsh

Many New England salt marshes remain tide-restricted or are undergoing tidal restoration. Hydrologic manipulation of salt marshes affects marsh biogeochemistry and vegetation patterns, but responses by fishes and decapod crustaceans (nekton) remain unclear, This study examines nekton habitat-use patterns in the tide-restricted Hatches Harbor salt marsh (Provincetown, Massachusetts) relative to a downstream, unrestricted marsh. Nekton assemblages were sampled in tidal creek, marsh pool, and salt marsh surface habitats. Pools and creeks were sampled every two weeks for one year to account for seasonal variability, and the marsh surface was sampled at two-week intervals in summer and fall. Density, richness, and community composition of nekton in creek and marsh surface habitats were similar between the unrestricted and restricted marsh, but use of pools differed drastically on the two sides of the tide-restricting dike. In 95% of the cases tested, restricted marsh habitats provided equal or greater habitat value for nekton than the same habitat in the unrestricted marsh (based on density), suggesting that the restricted marsh did not provide a degraded habitat for most species. For some species, the restricted marsh provided nursery, breeding, and overwintering habitat during different seasons, and tidal restoration of this salt marsh must be approached with care to prevent losses of these valuable marsh functions.

Wetlands↗

USGS2012

Inferring local competition intensity from patch size distributions: a test using biological soil crusts

Dryland vegetation is inherently patchy. This patchiness goes on to impact ecology, hydrology, and biogeochemistry. Recently, researchers have proposed that dryland vegetation patch sizes follow a power law which is due to local plant facilitation. It is unknown what patch size distribution prevails when competition predominates over facilitation, or if such a pattern could be used to detect competition. We investigated this question in an alternative vegetation type, mosses and lichens of biological soil crusts, which exhibit a smaller scale patch-interpatch configuration. This micro-vegetation is characterized by competition for space. We proposed that multiplicative effects of genetics, environment and competition should result in a log-normal patch size distribution. When testing the prevalence of log-normal versus power law patch size distributions, we found that the log-normal was the better distribution in 53% of cases and a reasonable fit in 83%. In contrast, the power law was better in 39% of cases, and in 8% of instances both distributions fit equally well. We further hypothesized that the log-normal distribution parameters would be predictably influenced by competition strength. There was qualitative agreement between one of the distribution's parameters (μ) and a novel intransitive (lacking a 'best' competitor) competition index, suggesting that as intransitivity increases, patch sizes decrease. The correlation of μ with other competition indicators based on spatial segregation of species (the C-score) depended on aridity. In less arid sites, μ was negatively correlated with the C-score (suggesting smaller patches under stronger competition), while positive correlations (suggesting larger patches under stronger competition) were observed at more arid sites. We propose that this is due to an increasing prevalence of competition transitivity as aridity increases. These findings broaden the emerging theory surrounding dryland patch size distributions and, with refinement, may help us infer cryptic ecological processes from easily observed spatial patterns in the field.

Oikos↗

USGS2013

The influence of precipitation, vegetation and soil properties on the ecohydrology of sagebrush steppe rangelands on the INL site

The INL Site and other landscapes having sagebrush steppe vegetation are experiencing a simultaneous change in climate and floristics that result from increases in exotic species. Determining the separate and combined/interactive effects of climate and vegetation change is important for assessing future changes on the landscape and for hydrologic processes. This research uses the 72 experimental plots established and initially maintained for many years as the “Protective Cap Biobarrier Experiment” by Dr. Jay Anderson and the Stoller ESER program, and the experiment is also now referred to as the “INL Site Ecohydrology Study.” We are evaluating long-term impacts of different plant communities commonly found throughout Idaho subject to different precipitation regimes and to different soil depths. Treatments of amount and timing of precipitation (irrigation), soil depth, and either native/perennial or exotic grass vegetation allow researchers to investigate how vegetation, precipitation and soil interact to influence soil hydrology and ecosystem biogeochemistry. This information will be used to improve a variety of models, as well as provide data for these models.

Report↗

USGS2014

Experimental design and quality assurance: in situ fluorescence instrumentation

Both instrument design and capabilities of fluorescence spectroscopy have greatly advanced over the last several decades. Advancements include solid-state excitation sources, integration of fiber optic technology, highly sensitive multichannel detectors, rapid-scan monochromators, sensitive spectral correction techniques, and improve data manipulation software (Christian et al., 1981, Lochmuller and Saavedra, 1986; Cabniss and Shuman, 1987; Lakowicz, 2006; Hudson et al., 2007). The cumulative effect of these improvements have pushed the limits and expanded the application of fluorescence techniques to numerous scientific research fields. One of the more powerful advancements is the ability to obtain in situ fluorescence measurements of natural waters (Moore, 1994). The development of submersible fluorescence instruments has been made possible by component miniaturization and power reduction including advances in light sources technologies (light-emitting diodes, xenon lamps, ultraviolet [UV] lasers) and the compatible integration of new optical instruments with various sampling platforms (Twardowski et at., 2005 and references therein). The development of robust field sensors skirt the need for cumbersome and or time-consuming filtration techniques, the potential artifacts associated with sample storage, and coarse sampling designs by increasing spatiotemporal resolution (Chen, 1999; Robinson and Glenn, 1999). The ability to obtain rapid, high-quality, highly sensitive measurements over steep gradients has revolutionized investigations of dissolved organic matter (DOM) optical properties, thereby enabling researchers to address novel biogeochemical questions regarding colored or chromophoric DOM (CDOM). This chapter is dedicated to the origin, design, calibration, and use of in situ field fluorometers. It will serve as a review of considerations to be accounted for during the operation of fluorescence field sensors and call attention to areas of concern when making this type of measurement. Attention is also given to ways in which in-water fluorescence measurements have revolutionized biogeochemical studies of CDOM and how those measurements can be used in conjunction with remotely sense satellite data to understand better the biogeochemistry of DOM in aquatic environments.

Book chapter↗

USGS1994

A vegetation classification logic-based on remote-sensing for use in global biogeochemical models

A simple new classification logic for global vegetation is proposed. The critical features of this classification are that: it is based on simple, observable, unambiguous character- istics of vegetation structure that are important to ecosystem biogeochemistry and can be measured in the field for validation; the structural characteristics can be determined by remote sensing, so that repeatable and efficient global re-classifications of existing vegetation will be possible; and the defined vegetation classes directly translate into the biophysical parameters of interest by global climate and biogeochemical models. A first test of this logic for the continental United States is presented based on an existing 1 km Normalized Difference Vegetation Index database. Currently recognized global biome classes can easily be derived from this classification by adding climate descriptors and defining mixtures of these fundamental six vegetation classes.

Ambio↗

USGS2010

It's not just about climate change - What about soils?

Vladimir Vernadsky was one of the giants of geochemistry. Considered the founder of the fi eld of biogeochemistry and a true pioneer in “whole Earth” studies, he realized by 1945 that “Man under our very eyes is becoming a mighty and ever-growing geological force.” In the intervening 65 years, his “ever-growing force” has become a tidal wave. The global population has been increasing exponentially since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and as a result has increased by nearly a factor of three between 1945, when his observation was published, and today (see fi gure). Current projections anticipate a population exceeding 9 billion by 2050. This explosive human population growth has been fueled by ancient hydrocarbons and has come with high costs. Most Earth scientists are concerned with the implications of the rapid accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The consequences include a climate state without polar ice, acidifying oceans, and increasingly variable water fl uxes. The rate and extent of these and many other negative climate-related impacts, and how to mitigate them, have caused a vigorous discussion on climate change that is in the news on a nearly daily basis.

Elements↗

USGS1997

Mass balance approach to selenium cycling through the San Joaquin Valley, sources to river to bay

Surface and ground waters of the Central Valley of California (e.g., rivers, dams, off-stream storage reservoirs, pumping facilities, irrigation and drinking water supply canals, agricultural drainage canals) are part of a hydrologic system that makes up a complex ecosystem extending from the riparian wetlands of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers through the San Francisco Bay/Delta Estuary to the Pacific Ocean (Fig. 1). Water quality concerns center on elevated selenium (Se) and salt concentrations in irrigation drainage water discharged into the waterways of the relatively arid San Joaquin Valley (SJV), including the San Joaquin River (SJR). These waters are made unique by dissolved Se, weathered from marine sedimentary rocks of the Coast Ranges to the west, being ultimately concentrated to toxic levels in aquatic wildlife in the wetlands of the SJV/SJR trough (Figs. 1 and 2) (Presser and Ohlendorf, 1987; Presser, 1994). Scientific and environmental concerns focus on the bioreactive properties of Se and its partitioning among biota, water, and sediment, and on whether simple dilution models can be applied to an element that bioaccumulates. Because of state and federal commitments to provide water for irrigation, as well as drainage of irriga tion wastewater by the year 2000 drainage from over 180,000 ha of seleniferous, salinized farmland within the western SJV will create approximately 387 million cubic meters of potentially toxic drainage water annually (i.e., “problem water,” as defined by the San Joaquin Valley Drainage Program, 1990), thus lending urgency to an understanding of the biogeochemistry of Se in this environment.

California↗

USGS2000

Alteration of reactive mineral surfaces by ground water

Two different investigations of shallow sandy aquifers inform our thinking about the role of reactive iron minerals in hydrogeological systems. Ground water in a number of settings has been described as having elevated concentrations of dissolved iron in anoxic portions of contaminant plumes (e.g. Baedecker et al., 1993; Lyngkilde and Christensen, 1992), and the coupling of microbial reduction of Fe(III) to the degradation of organic compounds links the study of the biogeochemistry of iron to our desire to understand processes influencing contaminated aquifers. Questions about the transport and fate of reactive constituents in ground water are linked to the study of iron through recognition of the importance of sorption processes on sesquioxide mineral surfaces common in sedimentary aquifers limiting the migration of metals, anions, and bacteria. We have been grappling with questions related to the stability of iron mineral phases in contaminated aquifers and the role of Fe(III)- bearing minerals and grain coatings as sorption substrates

Conference Paper↗

USGS1993

The geochemistry of methane in Lake Fryxell, an amictic, permanently ice-covered, antarctic lake

The abundance and distribution of dissolved CH4 were determined from 1987-1990 in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica, an amictic, permanently ice-covered lake in which solute movement is controlled by diffusion. CH4 concentrations were < 1 ??M in the upper oxic waters, but increased below the oxycline to 936 ??M at 18 m. Sediment CH4 was 1100 ??mol (1 sed)-1 in the 0-5 cm zone. Upward flux from the sediment was the source of the CH4, NH4 +, and DOC in the water column; CH4 was 27% of the DOC+CH4 carbon at 18 m. Incubations with surficial sediments indicated that H14CO3 - reduction was 0.4 ??mol (1 sed)-1 day-1 or 4?? the rate of acetate fermentation to CH4. There was no measurable CH4 production in the water column. However, depth profiles of CH4, NH4, and DIC normalized to bottom water concentrations demonstrated that a significant CH4 sink was evident in the anoxic, sulfate-containing zone of the water column (10-18 m). The ??13CH4 in this zone decreased from -72 % at 18 m to -76% at 12 m, indicating that the consumption mechanism did not result in an isotopic enrichment of 13CH4. In contrast, ??13CH4 increased to -55 % at 9 m due to aerobic oxidation, though this was a minor aspect of the CH4 cycle. The water column CH4 profile was modeled by coupling diffusive flux with a first order consumption term; the best-fit rate constant for anaerobic CH4 consumption was 0.012 yr-1. On a total carbon basis, CH4 consumption in the anoxic water column exerted a major effect on the flux of carbonaceous material from the underlying sediments and serves to exemplify the importance of CH4 to carbon cycling in Lake Fryxell. ?? 1993 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Biogeochemistry↗

USGS1996

Geochemistry of aquatic humic substances in the Lake Fryxell basin, Antarctica

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in Lake Fryxell, 10 streams flowing into the lake, and the moat surrounding the lake was studied to determine the influence of sources and biogeochemical processes on its distribution and chemical nature. Lake Fryxell is an amictic, permanently ice-covered lake in the McMurdo Dry Valleys which contains benthic and planktonic microbial populations, but receives essentially no input of organic material from the ahumic soils of the watershed. Biological activity in the water column does not appear to influence the DOC depth profile, which is similar to the profiles for conservative inorganic constituents. DOC values for the streams varied with biomass in the stream channel, and ranged from 0.2 to 9.7 mg C/L. Fulvic acids in the streams were a lower percentage of the total DOC than in the lake. These samples contain recent carbon and appear to be simpler mixtures of compounds than the lake samples, indicating that they have undergone less humification. The fulvic acids from just above the sediments of the lake have a high sulfur content and are highly aliphatic. The main transformations occurring as these fractions diffuse upward in the water column are 1) loss of sulfur groups through the oxycline and 2) decrease in aliphatic carbon and increase in the heterogeneity of aliphatic moieties. The fraction of modem 14C content of the lake fulvic acids range from a minimum of 0.68 (approximately 3000 years old) at 15m depth to 0.997 (recent material) just under the ice. The major processes controlling the DOC in the lake appear to be: 1) The transport of organic matter by the inflow streams resulting in the addition of recent organic material to the moat and upper waters of the lake; 2) The diffusion of organic matter composed of relict organic material and organic carbon resulting from the degradation of algae and bacteria from the bottom waters or sediments of the lake into overlying glacial melt water; 3) The addition of recent organic matter to the bottom waters of the lake from the moat.

Biogeochemistry↗