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Hydrochemistry dynamics in remote mountain lakes and its relation to catchment and atmospheric features: the case study of Sabocos Tarn, Pyrenees

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Abstract

Increasing the understanding of high mountain lake dynamics is essential to use these remote aquatic ecosystems as proxies of global environmental changes. With this aim, at Sabocos, a Pyrenean cirque glacial lake or tarn, this study shows the main results of a morphological and catchment characterization, along with statistical analyses of its hydrochemical trends and their concomitant driving factors from 2010 to 2013. Dissolved oxygen, water temperature stratification, and its snow and ice cover composition and dynamics have been also investigated. According to morphological analyses, Sabocos can be classified as a medium-large and deep lake, having a circular contour and a long water retention time as compared to Pyrenean glacial lake average values. Sabocos hydrochemistry is mainly determined by very high alkalinity, pH and conductivity levels, and high Ca2+, Mg2+, and SO4 2− content, coming from the easily weatherable limestone-dolomite bedrock. Thus, lake water is well buffered, and therefore, Sabocos tarn is non-sensitive to acidification processes. On the other hand, the main source of K+, Na+, and Cl− (sea salts) and nutrients (NH4 +, NO3 −, and phosphorous) to lake water appears to be atmospheric deposition. Primary production is phosphorous limited, and due to the N-saturation stage of the poorly developed soils of Sabocos catchment, NO3 − is the chief component in the total nitrogen pool. External temperature seems to be the major driver regulating lake productivity, since warm temperatures boot primary production. Although precipitation might also play an important role in lake dynamics, especially regarding to those parameters influenced by the weathering of the bedrock, its influence cannot be easily assessed due to the seasonal isolation produced by the ice cover. Also, as occurs in the whole Pyrenean lake district, chemical composition of bulk deposition is highly variable due to the contribution of air masses with different origin.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded partly by the Departamento de Ciencia, Tecnología y Universidad of the Gobierno de Aragón through GATHERS (E52 research group) economical support and the predoctoral grants conceded to Z. Santolaria and T. Arruebo. Authors wish to thank all the bodies that have contributed to this study, especially during the field campaigns and sample analyses: Laboratorio de Calidad de Aguas y Medio Ambiente de la EINA (Universidad de Zaragoza), Servicio General de Apoyo a la Investigación (SAI, Universidad de Zaragoza), Zaragoza Club Odisea (ZCO), Federación Aragonesa de Actividades Subacuáticas (FARAS) and Grupo Especial de Actividades Subacuáticas de la Guardia Civil (GEAS), Unidad Militar de Emergencias (UME), and Aramón-Panticosa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo de Termodinámica Aplicada y Superficies (GATHERS), Departamento de Química-Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, c/ Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain

    Zoe Santolaria, José Santiago Urieta, Francisco Javier Lanaja, Alfonso Pardo & Carlos Rodriguez-Casals

  2. Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería de Aragón (I3A), Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Zoe Santolaria, José Santiago Urieta & Francisco Javier Lanaja

  3. Laboratorio de Calidad de Aguas y Medioambiente, EINA, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Zoe Santolaria & Francisco Javier Lanaja

  4. Departamento de Geografía y Ordenación del Territorio, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Tomas Arruebo

  5. Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias y del Medio Natural, Área de Edafología, Escuela Politécnica Superior de Huesca, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Alfonso Pardo

  6. Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Medioambiente, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    José Matesanz

  7. Departamento de Didáctica de la Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Carlos Rodriguez-Casals

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  1. Zoe Santolaria
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  2. Tomas Arruebo
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Correspondence to Zoe Santolaria.

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Santolaria, Z., Arruebo, T., Urieta, J.S. et al. Hydrochemistry dynamics in remote mountain lakes and its relation to catchment and atmospheric features: the case study of Sabocos Tarn, Pyrenees. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 231–247 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3310-0

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