Sedimentation of phosphorus in limnetic and estuarine environments in the River Öre system, northern Sweden

Abstract

Sedimentation of phosphorus was studied during the spring flood in April and May 1991 in Lake Örträsket and the Öre Estuary, northern Sweden. Lake Örträsket has an area of 7.3 km² and a mean depth of 22 m and is located 100 km from the coast halfways along the course of the River Öre. The river ends in a semi-closed low salinity estuary with an area of ca. 50 km² and a mean depth of 16 m. Sedimentation of phosphorus, iron and organic carbon were measured with sediment traps in Lake Örträsket and in the Öre Estuary. Characterization of particulate phosphorus in river water, sediment trap material and sediments were performed by the sequential extraction procedure proposed by Hieltjes & Lijklema (1980). Apart from being an efficient trap for suspended particles including particulate phosphorus, Lake Örträsket was shown to serve as a source for particulate material during spring 1991. The Öre Estuary, on the other hand, constitutes an efficient trap for the total supply of river-borne phosphorus during the spring flood period. Phosphorus was shown to be closely related to iron in particulate material in both the lake and the estuary. Adsorption of phosphorus on settling inorganic particles seems to be an important process, which is particularly pronounced in the estuary.