A Comparison Study of the Nutrient Fluxes in a Newly Impounded Riverine Lake (Longjing Lake): Model Calculation and Sediment Incubation

Abstract

Diffusion flux is an essential tool to estimate the contribution of internal nitrogen and phosphorus in eutrophic lakes. There are mainly two methods, i.e., model calculation based on in-situ porewater sampling and water quality monitoring in laboratory incubation. The results obtained by the two methods are rarely compared, decreasing the validity of internal contribution and following management strategies. In this study, sediment samples were collected from a lake in China, then the fluxes were estimated by model calculation and laboratory incubation. The results show that there is an order of magnitude difference in the fluxes measured by these two methods. The mean values of ammonia (NH4+-N) and soluble reactive phosphate (SRP) obtained from the model calculations were 24.4 and 1.30, respectively. The mean values of NH4+-N and SRP obtained in the undisturbed group of sediment incubation were 7.84 and 5.47, respectively, and in the disturbed group of sediment incubation were 16.2 and 4.06, respectively. Sediment incubation is a combination of multiple influencing factors to obtain fluxes, while porewater model is based on molecular diffusion as the theoretical basis for obtaining fluxes. According to the different approaches of the two methods, sediment incubation is recommended as a research tool in lake autochthonous release management when the main objective is to remove pollution, while the porewater model is recommended as a research tool when the main objective is to control pollution. When assessing the diffusive flux of nitrogen, it is recommended to choose the stable form of total dissolved nitrogen to discuss the flux results.