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A self-organizing map approach to the analysis of lake DOM fluorescence for differentiation of organic matter sources

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Abstract

The sources and properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in two lakes with different non-point source inputs were investigated by combining conventional three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy methods with a self-organizing map (SOM). To assess the DOM humification level, the representative neurons 1, 11, 25, and 36 were assessed. The SOM model showed that the DOM humification level of the Gaotang Lake (GT) which has a mainly agricultural non-point source input was significantly higher than that of the Yaogao Reservoir (YG) which has a mainly terrestrial source input (P < 0.01). The GT DOM mainly came from factors such as agricultural-related farm compost and decaying plants, while the YG DOM originated from human activities around the lake. The source characteristics of the YG DOM are obvious, with a high level of biological activity. Five representative areas in the fluorescence regional integral (FRI) were compared. The comparison showed that during the flat water period, the GT water column showed more terrestrial characteristics, even though the humus-like fractions in the DOM of both lakes were derived from microbial decomposition. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the agricultural lake water DOM (GT) was dominated by humus components, while the urban lake water DOM (YG) was dominated by authigenic sources.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during this study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Ecological Environment Special Project of the Key Research and Development Program of Anhui Province (202004i07020012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth and Environment, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, 232001, China

    Xincheng Jin, Xiaoqing Chen, Liangmin Gao, Xudong Chen, Juan Ge, Feiyan Wei, Hansong Lu, Yufan Wu, Jiahui Cui & Menghang Yuan

Authors
  1. Xincheng Jin
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  2. Xiaoqing Chen
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  3. Liangmin Gao
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  4. Xudong Chen
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  5. Juan Ge
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  6. Feiyan Wei
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  7. Hansong Lu
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  8. Yufan Wu
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  9. Jiahui Cui
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  10. Menghang Yuan
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Contributions

The pre-experiment was operated by Juan Ge and Feiyan Wei. Xudong Chen provided great help in the analysis of the experimental data and the plotting of the data. Xiaoqing Chen and Liangmin Gao made a great contribution to the writing of the manuscript. Xincheng Jin was the main author of the manuscript. Repeated experiments were performed by Hansong Lu, Yufan Wu, Jiahui Cui, and Menghang Yuan. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaoqing Chen.

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Jin, X., Chen, X., Gao, L. et al. A self-organizing map approach to the analysis of lake DOM fluorescence for differentiation of organic matter sources. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 75788–75798 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27860-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27860-y

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