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Short-term and seasonal variability of oxygen fluxes at the sediment–water interface in a riverine lake

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Abstract

In situ measurements of sediment-water oxygen fluxes conducted in a riverine lake during different seasons were analyzed with the aim of quantifying the combined effects of hydrodynamic forcing and seasonal changes in temperature on sediment oxygen uptake rate. Oxygen fluxes measured using the eddy correlation (EC) technique varied widely between −6.4 and −84 mmol m−2 day−1, while variations observed on hourly time scales were of comparable magnitude to seasonal variations. Oxygen fluxes were most strongly correlated to current speed in the benthic boundary layer and water depth, which both co-varied with discharge, temperature, and oxygen concentration. A direct correlation of measured fluxes with temperature and corresponding seasonal flux variations could not be observed. To explore the potential effect of temperature on oxygen fluxes, we applied a simplified analytical model, which couples the effect of hydrodynamic forcing with a temperature-dependent oxygen consumption rate within the sediment. The results suggest that the flux is a non-linear function of both variables and both can have comparable effects on the magnitude of the oxygen fluxes. The model confirms our observation that short-term variations of oxygen fluxes in response to hydrodynamic forcing can mask longer-term seasonal variations driven by temperature. The model further indicates that the magnitude and form of the temperature dependence of oxygen uptake and mineralization rates in freshwater sediments obtained from laboratory incubations can be strongly affected by flow conditions during incubations. We conclude that predictions of oxygen uptake and mineralization rates under changing climatic conditions should also take potential changes of flow conditions into account.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG) for providing bathymetry data for the Havel River, the Waterways and Navigation Office (WSA) Berlin for providing boats and facilities for our measurements, A. Glud (University of Southern Denmark) for the oxygen microsensors, and C. E. Bluteau (University of Western Australia) for sharing the Matlab script for the inertial dissipation method. This study was part of the KLIWAS research program of the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building, and Urban Development (BMVBS). EM was funded by a scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). We thank and gratefully acknowledge P. Berg and two anonymous reviewers for their critical and constructive comments that helped improve the manuscript.

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  1. Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstr. 7, 76829, Landau, Germany

    Erni Murniati, Sebastian Geissler & Andreas Lorke

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  1. Erni Murniati
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  2. Sebastian Geissler
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  3. Andreas Lorke
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Correspondence to Erni Murniati.

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Murniati, E., Geissler, S. & Lorke, A. Short-term and seasonal variability of oxygen fluxes at the sediment–water interface in a riverine lake. Aquat Sci 77, 183–196 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-014-0362-7

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