Abstract
Northern lakes are a source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and contribute substantially to the global carbon budget. However, the sources of methane (CH4) to northern lakes are poorly constrained limiting our ability to the assess impacts of future Arctic change. Here we present measurements of the natural groundwater tracer, radon, and CH4 in a shallow lake on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, AK and quantify groundwater discharge rates and fluxes of groundwater-derived CH4. We found that groundwater was significantly enriched (2000%) in radon and CH4 relative to lake water. Using a mass balance approach, we calculated average groundwater fluxes of 1.2 ± 0.6 and 4.3 ± 2.0 cm day−1, respectively as conservative and upper limit estimates. Groundwater CH4 fluxes were 7—24 mmol m−2 day−1 and significantly exceeded diffusive air–water CH4 fluxes (1.3–2.3 mmol m−2 day−1) from the lake to the atmosphere, suggesting that groundwater is an important source of CH4 to Arctic lakes and may drive observed CH4 emissions. Isotopic signatures of CH4 were depleted in groundwaters, consistent with microbial production. Higher methane concentrations in groundwater compared to other high latitude lakes were likely the source of the comparatively higher CH4 diffusive fluxes, as compared to those reported previously in high latitude lakes. These findings indicate that deltaic lakes across warmer permafrost regions may act as important hotspots for CH4 release across Arctic landscapes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bartlett KB, Crill PM, Sass RL et al (1992) Methane emissions from tundra environments in the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, Alaska. J Geophys Res 97:16645–16660. https://doi.org/10.1029/91JD00610
Bastviken D, Ejlertsson J, Tranvik L (2002) Measurement of methane oxidation in lakes: a comparison of methods. Environ Sci Technol 36:3354–3361. https://doi.org/10.1021/es010311p
Bastviken D, Cole J, Pace M, Tranvik L (2004) Methane emissions from lakes: dependence of lake characteristics, two regional assessments, and a global estimate. Glob Biogeochem Cycl 18:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GB002238
Bastviken D, Cole JJ, Pace ML, van de-Bogert MC (2008) Fates of methane from different lake habitats: connecting whole-lake budgets and CH4 emissions. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 113:G02024. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JG000608
Beck AJ, Tsukamoto Y, Tovar-Sanchez A et al (2007) Importance of geochemical transformations in determining submarine groundwater discharge-derived trace metal and nutrient fluxes. Appl Geochem 22:477–490. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.APGEOCHEM.2006.10.005
Bring A, Fedorova I, Dibike Y et al (2016) Arctic terrestrial hydrology: a synthesis of processes, regional effects, and research challenges. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 121:621–649. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JG003131
Brooks JR, Gibson JJ, Birks SJ et al (2014) Stable isotope estimates of evaporation : inflow and water residence time for lakes across the United States as a tool for national lake water quality assessments. Limnol Oceanogr 59:2150–2165. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2014.59.6.2150
Brown J, Ferrians Jr. OJ, Heginbottom JA, Melnikov ES (2002) Circum-Arctic Map of Permafrost and Ground-Ice Conditions, version 2. National Snow and Ice Data Center
Burnett WC, Santos IR, Weinstein Y, et al (2007) Remaining uncertainties in the use of Rn-222 as a quantitative tracer of submarine groundwater discharge. In: IAHS-AISH Publication. pp 109–118
Chanyotha S, Kranrod C, Burnett WC (2014) Assessing diffusive fluxes and pore water radon activities via a single automated experiment. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 301:581–588. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-014-3157-3
Chanyotha S, Kranrod C, Kritsananuwat R et al (2016) Optimizing laboratory-based radon flux measurements for sediments. J Environ Radioact 158–159:47–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2016.03.023
Charette MA, Moore WS, Burnett WC (2008) Uranium-and thorium-series nuclides as tracers of submarine groundwater discharge. Radioact Environ 13:155–191
Charette MA, Buesseler KO (2004) Submarine groundwater discharge of nutrients and copper to an urban subestuary of Chesapeake Bay (Elizabeth River). Limnol Oceanogr 49:376–385. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2004.49.2.0376
Charette MA, Buesseler KO, Andrews JE (2001) Utility of radium isotopes for evaluating the input and transport of groundwater-derived nitrogen to a Cape Cod estuary. Limnol Oceanogr 46:465–470. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2001.46.2.0465
Corbett DR, Burnett WC, Cable PH, Clark SB (1997) Radon tracing of groundwater input into Par Pond, Savannah River Site. J Hydrol 203:209–227
Craig H (1961) Isotopic variations in meteoric waters. Science (80-)133:1702–1703. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.133.3465.1702
Crawford JT, Striegl RG, Wickland KP et al (2013) Emissions of carbon dioxide and methane from a headwater stream network of interior Alaska. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 118:482–494. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrg.20034
Crusius J, Wanninkhof R (2003) Gas transfer velocities measured at low wind speed over a lake. Limnol Oceanogr 48:1010–1017. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2003.48.3.1010
Dean JF, Middelburg JJ, Röckmann T et al (2018) Methane feedbacks to the global climate system in a warmer world. Rev Geophys 56:207–250. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017RG000559
Dimova NT, Burnett WC (2011) Evaluation of groundwater discharge into small lakes based on the temporal distribution of radon-222. Limnol Oceanogr 56:486–494. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2011.56.2.0486
Dimova NT, Burnett WC, Chanton JP, Corbett JE (2013) Application of radon-222 to investigate groundwater discharge into small shallow lakes. J Hydrol 486:112–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.01.043
Dimova NT, Paytan A, Kessler JD et al (2015) Current magnitude and mechanisms of groundwater discharge in the Arctic: case study from Alaska. Environ Sci Technol 49:12036–12043. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b02215
Dulaiova H, Camilli R, Henderson PB, Charette MA (2010) Coupled radon, methane and nitrate sensors for large-scale assessment of groundwater discharge and non-point source pollution to coastal waters. J Environ Radioact 101:553–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2009.12.004
Emerson SR, Hedges JI (2008) Chemical oceanography and the marine carbon cycle. Cambridge University Press, New York
Ferrians Jr. OJ (1965) Permafrost map of Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map 445. Scale 1:2,500,000. 1
Fontes JC (1980) Handbook of environmental isotope geochemistry. Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co., New York
Garcia-Tigreros Kodovska F, Sparrow KJ, Yvon-Lewis SA et al (2016) Dissolved methane and carbon dioxide fluxes in Subarctic and Arctic regions: assessing measurement techniques and spatial gradients. Earth Planet Sci Lett 436:43–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.EPSL.2015.12.002
Gibson JJ, Edwards TWD, Birks SJ et al (2005) Progress in isotope tracer hydrology in Canada. Process 19:303–327. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.5766
Gibson JJ, Birks SJ, Edwards TWD (2008) Global prediction of δA and δ2H-δ18O evaporation slopes for lakes and soil water accounting for seasonality. Global Biogeochem Cycl 22:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GB002997
Higuera PE, Chipman ML, Barnes JL et al (2011) Variability of tundra fire regimes in Arctic Alaska: Millennial-scale patterns and ecological implications. Ecol Appl 21:3211–3226. https://doi.org/10.1890/11-0387.1
Holgerson MA, Raymond PA (2016) Large contribution to inland water CO2 and CH4 emissions from very small ponds. Nat Geosci 9:222–226. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2654
Hornibrook ERC, Longstaffe FJ, Fyfe WS (1997) Spatial distribution of microbial methane production pathways in temperate zone wetland soils: stable carbon and hydrogen isotope evidence. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 61:745–753. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7037(96)00368-7
Key RM, Brewer RL, Stockwell JH et al (1979) Some improved techniques for measuring radon and radium in marine sediments and in seawater. Mar Chem 7:251–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4203(79)90042-2
Kim J, Kim G (2017) Inputs of humic fluorescent dissolved organic matter via submarine groundwater discharge to coastal waters off a volcanic island (Jeju, Korea). Sci Rep 7:7921. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08518-5
Kling GW, Kipphut GW, Miller MC (1992) The flux of CO2 and CH4 from lakes and rivers in arctic Alaska. Hydrobiologia 240(1–3):23–36
Lecher A (2017) Groundwater discharge in the Arctic: a review of studies and implications for biogeochemistry. Hydrology 4:41. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology4030041
Lehner B, Döll P (2004) Development and validation of a global database of lakes, reservoirs and wetlands. J Hydrol 296:1–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JHYDROL.2004.03.028
Loranty MM, Lieberman-Cribbin W, Berner LT et al (2016) Spatial variation in vegetation productivity trends, fire disturbance, and soil carbon across arctic-boreal permafrost ecosystems. Environ Res Lett. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/9/095008
Ludwig S, Holmes RM, Natali SM et al (2017a) Polaris Project 2017: Soil fluxes, carbon, and nitrogen. Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Ludwig S, Holmes RM, Natali SM et al (2017b) Polaris Project 2017: Aquatic isotopes, carbon, and nitrogen. Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Ludwig S, Holmes RM, Natali SM et al (2017c) Polaris Project 2017: Lake sediment carbon and nitrogen. Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Moore WS, Reid DF (1973) Extraction of radium from natural waters using manganese-impregnated acrylic fibers. J Geophys Res 78:8880–8886. https://doi.org/10.1029/JC078i036p08880
Morison MQ, Macrae ML, Petrone RM, Fishback L (2017a) Capturing temporal and spatial variability in the chemistry of shallow permafrost ponds. Biogeosciences 14:5471–5485. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5471-2017
Morison MQ, Macrae ML, Petrone RM, Fishback LA (2017b) Seasonal dynamics in shallow freshwater pond-peatland hydrochemical interactions in a subarctic permafrost environment. Hydrol Process 31:462–475. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.11043
Natali SM, Schuur EAG, Mauritz M et al (2015) Permafrost thaw and soil moisture driving CO2 and CH4 release from upland tundra. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 120:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JG002872.Received
Paytan A, Shellenbarger GG, Street JH et al (2006) Submarine groundwater discharge: an important source of new inorganic nitrogen to coral reef ecosystems. Limnol Oceanogr 51:343–348. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2006.51.1.0343
Paytan A, Lecher AL, Dimova N et al (2015) Methane transport from the active layer to lakes in the Arctic using Toolik Lake, Alaska, as a case study. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112:3636–3640. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1417392112
Rawlins MA, Steele M, Holland MM et al (2010) Analysis of the Arctic system for freshwater cycle intensification: observations and expectations. J Clim 23:5715–5737. https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JCLI3421.1
Richardson CM, Dulai H, Popp BN et al (2017) Submarine groundwater discharge drives biogeochemistry in two Hawaiian reefs. Limnol Oceanogr 62:S348–S363. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10654
Sae-Lim J, Russell JM, Vachula RS et al (2019) Temperature-controlled tundra fire severity and frequency during the last millennium in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Holocene, Alaska
Schubert M, Paschke A, Bednorz D et al (2012) Kinetics of the water/air phase transition of radon and its implication on detection of radon-in-water concentrations: practical assessment of different on-site radon extraction methods. Environ Sci Technol 46:8945–8951. https://doi.org/10.1021/es3019463
Schuur EAG, Bockheim J, Canadell JG et al (2008) Vulnerability of permafrost carbon to climate change : implications for the global carbon cycle. Bioscience 58:701–714
Schuur EAG, McGuire AD, Schädel C et al (2015) Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback. Nature 520:171–179. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14338
Sepulveda-Jauregui A, Walter Anthony KM, Martinez-Cruz K et al (2015) Methane and carbon dioxide emissions from 40 lakes along a north-south latitudinal transect in Alaska. Biogeosciences 12:3197–3223. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-3197-2015
Throckmorton HM, Newman BD, Heikoop JM et al (2016) Active layer hydrology in an arctic tundra ecosystem: quantifying water sources and cycling using water stable isotopes. Hydrol Process 30:4972–4986. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10883
US Fish & Wildlife Service (2002) Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. In: Fact Sheet. https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Region_7/NWRS/Zone_1/Yukon_Delta/PDF/yukondelta.pdf. Accessed 24 Jul 2018
Vihma T, Screen J, Tjernström M et al (2016) The atmospheric role in the Arctic water cycle: a review on processes, past and future changes, and their impacts. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 121:586–620. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JG003132
Vonk JE, Tank SE, Bowden WB et al (2015) Reviews and syntheses: effects of permafrost thaw on Arctic aquatic ecosystems. Biogeosciences 12:7129–7167. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7129-2015
Walter Anthony K, Schneider von Deimling T, Nitze I et al (2018) 21st-century modeled permafrost carbon emissions accelerated by abrupt thaw beneath lakes. Nat Commun 9:3262. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05738-9
Walvoord MA, Kurylyk BL (2016) Hydrologic impacts of Thawing Permafrost—a review. Vadose Zo J 15:1–20. https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2016.01.0010
Walvoord MA, Striegl RG (2007) Increased groundwater to stream discharge from permafrost thawing in the Yukon River basin: potential impacts on lateral export of carbon and nitrogen. Geophys Res Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030216
Wanninkhof R (1992) Relationship between wind speed and gas exchange. J Geophys Res 97:7373–7382
Warwick NJ, Cain ML, Fisher R et al (2016) Using δ13C-CH4 and δD-CH4 to constrain Arctic methane emissions. Atmos Chem Phys 16:14891–14908. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14891-2016
Whiticar MJ (1999) Carbon and hydrogen isotope systematics of bacterial formation and oxidation of methane. Chem Geol 161:291–314. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0009-2541(99)00092-3
Whiticar MJ, Faber E (1986) Methane oxidation in sediment and water column environments—isotope evidence. Org Geochem 10:759–768. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(86)80013-4
Wiesenburg DA, Guinasso NL (1979) Equilibrium solubilities of methane, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen in water and sea water. J Chem Eng Data 24:356–360. https://doi.org/10.1021/je60083a006
Wik M, Varner RK, Anthony KW et al (2016) Climate-sensitive northern lakes and ponds are critical components of methane release. Nat Geosci 9:99–105
Williams JR (1970) Ground water in the permafrost regions of Alaska. U.S, Geological Survey, Washington, DC
Wilson FH, Hults CP, Mull CG, Karl SM (2015) Geologic Map of Alaska. USGS Scientific Investigations Map 3340, pamphlet
Woo MK (2012) Permafrost hydrology. Springer, New York
Wrona FJ, Johansson M, Culp JM et al (2016) Transitions in Arctic ecosystems: Ecological implications of a changing hydrologic regime. J Geophys Res Biogeosciences 121:650–674. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JG003133
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the help of the Polar Field Services Team and helicopter pilot, Stan Herman, for assistance and support in the field. They also thank the other Polaris 2017 and 2018 participants for field assistance, ideas, and companionship. J.S.D. thanks Laura Jardine for sharing her soil samples (B2, U1, U3, B3) (Ludwig et al. 2017a) and to Jordan Jimmie for stream discharge data and sampling. This work was funded by National Science Foundation awards OCE-1458305 to M.A.C., 1561437 to S.M.N, J.D.S., and R.M.H and 1624927 to S.M.N., P.J.M. and R.M.H. We thank the two reviewers for their constructive comments that improved the quality of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conceptualization, JSD, MAC, RMH, SMN, JDS and PJM; methodology, JSD, MAC. PJM, and SML; validation, JSD and MAC; formal analysis, JSD, SML, and MP; investigation, JSD, PJM, SML, MP, and PBH; resources, JSD, PBH, MAC, RMH, SMN, JDS and PJM; data curation, JSD, SML, PJM, and MPwriting—original draft preparation, JSD; writing—review and editing, JSD, MAC, PJM, SML, MP, PBH, RMH, SMN, JDS; visualization, JSD; supervision, MAC; project administration, MAC; funding acquisition, MAC, PJM, RMH, SMN, JDS.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Sujay Kaushal.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendices
Appendix 1: Methane fluxes
See Table 6.
Appendix 2: Uncertainty estimates in the mass balance model
See Table 7.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dabrowski, J.S., Charette, M.A., Mann, P.J. et al. Using radon to quantify groundwater discharge and methane fluxes to a shallow, tundra lake on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Biogeochemistry 148, 69–89 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00647-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00647-w