Abstract
Purpose
Kettle holes are small inland water bodies known to be dominated by terrigenous material; however, the processes and structures that drive the enrichment and depletion of specific geochemical elements in the water column and kettle hole sediment remain unclear. We hypothesized that the mobile elements (Ca, Fe, K, P) behave different from each other in their transport, intermediate soil retention, and final accumulation in the kettle hole sediment.
Methods
Topsoils from transects spanning topographic positions from erosional to depositional areas, sediment cores, shallow groundwater, and kettle hole water of two glacial kettle holes in NE Germany (Rittgarten (RG) and Kraatz (KR)) were collected. The Fe, Ca, K, and total P (TP) concentrations were quantified and additionally the major anions in shallow groundwater and kettle hole water. The element-specific mobilization, relocation, and, finally, accumulation in the sediment were investigated by enrichment factors. Furthermore, a piper diagram was used to estimate groundwater flow directions and pond-internal processes.
Results
At KR only, the upper 10 cm of the kettle hole sediment reflected the relative element composition of the eroded terrestrial soils. The sediment from both kettle holes was enriched in Ca, Fe, K, and P compared to topsoils, indicating several possible processes including the input of clay and silt sized particles enriched in these elements, fertilizer input, and pond-internal processes including biogenic calcite and hydroxyapatite precipitation, Fe–P binding (KR), FeSx formation (RG), and elemental fixation and deposition via floating macrophytes (RG). High Ca concentrations in the kettle hole water indicated a high input of Ca from shallow groundwater inflow, while Ca precipitation in the kettle hole water led to lower Ca concentration in groundwater outflow.
Conclusions
The considerable element losses in the surrounding soils and the inputs into the kettle holes should be addressed by comprehensive soil and water protection measures, i.e., avoiding tillage, fertilizing conservatively, and creating buffer zones.
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Data Availability
The research data are available from the BonaRes Repository : https://doi.org/10.20387/bonares-9bbk-z07e.
Code Availability
Not applicable.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to all persons who have contributed to this study. Dorith Henning, Roswitha Schulz and Joachim Bartelt (†) (all Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research ZALF, Institute of Landscape Hydrology, LWH) regularly sampled the kettle holes. Rita Schwarz (†), Melitta Engel (both ZALF, LWH) and Kristina Holz (ZALF, Central Laboratory) conducted most of the laboratory analysis. Gernot Verch (ZALF) provided information on the land management. We kindly thank the LandScales team for their support and discussions.
Funding
This research was funded through the Pact for Innovation and Research of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz association (project LandScales—‘Connecting processes and structures driving landscape carbon dynamics over scales’) (SAW-2012-ZALF-3).
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Nitzsche, K.N., Kleeberg, A., Hoffmann, C. et al. Kettle holes reflect the biogeochemical characteristics of their catchment area and the intensity of the element-specific input. J Soils Sediments 22, 994–1009 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03145-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03145-8