Phosphorus release rates were measured on intact sediment cores collected from the major depositional basin of Onondaga Lake, a dimictic, calcareous, hypereutrophic system in Syracuse, N.Y., U.S.A. Release experiments were conducted under a matrix of redox and pH conditions to investigate the importance of Ca- and Fe-related physicochemistry on sediment cores collected seasonally, i.e., during the spring, summer, fall, and winter periods. Strong seasonal variation in P release was observed, with rates ranging from ~3 to 38 mg P·m-2·day-1. This variation is attributed to changes in redox status and P concentration gradients at the sediment-water interface. An oxidized microlayer at the sediment-water interface partially inhibits sediment P release under isothermal, well-mixed conditions in the spring and fall. Phosphorus trapped in the oxic microlayer (sorption) is freed when the microlayer is chemically reduced at the onset of anoxia and high P release rates are observed. The oxidized microlayer serves to regulate seasonality in rates of sediment P release but does not influence long-term sediment-water exchange. It is proposed that the long-term P release process is best represented by a time-weighted annual average rate, calculated here to be ~10 mg P·m-2·day-1.

We investigated the accumulation and influence of bioavailable P (BAP) in sediments of a stream located in an agricultural area of the Lake Mendota watershed in Wisconsin, USA. During hydrologic events, the stream carried high concentrations of suspended sediment (up to 250 mg/l) and BAP (up to 2.5 mg/l). Bed sediments were highly enriched in BAP, as inventories of BAP in the top 10 cm of sediment ranged from 143 to 14,500 lg P/cm 2 . Space variations in BAP inventories were related to site-specific hydrodynamics and geochemical factors, including iron (Fe; r 2 = 0.71) and aluminum (Al; r 2 = 0.54) concentrations. Most sites behaved as potential sinks for dissolved reactive phosphate during hydrologic events and potential sources during base-flow periods. Through the combination of site-specific factors and geochemical controls, Dorn Creek modifies the amount, timing, and composition of P delivered from the watershed to downstream sites and water bodies.

The contribution of sediment release to the phosphorus budget of hypereutrophic Onondaga Lake was determined through laboratory measurements made on intact cores. Rates ranged from 9-21 mg P m-2 dwith a mean of 13 mg P m-2 d -1, values similar to those observed in other lakes of comparable trophic state. There was no statistically significant trend in rates in time (July versus September) or in space (location along the major N/S axis of the lake). Rates of sediment phosphorus release measured in the laboratory compared favorably with the observed rate of soluble reactive phosphorus accumulation in the lake's hypolimnion. The sediments are the second largest source of phosphorus for Onondaga Lake, contributing 24% of the overall phosphorus load to the system.

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