Recent increase in sediment dry matter, carbon, and phosphorus accumulation in small boreal lakes with clayey catchments

Abstract

<p>This study estimated the mass accumulation rates of sediment (MAR), carbon (CMAR), and phosphorus (PMAR) in small Finnish lakes with agricultural clayey catchments over a 25-year period (1986–2011) and compared these with the conditions before major agricultural land use. Twenty-two lakes were cored for recent and reference (pre-disturbance) sediments. The recent sediment section was selected based on the 1986 ¹³⁷Cs fallout peak (TOP), whereas the pre-disturbance section (REF) was selected immediately below the first signs of human-induced erosion. The 50-cm reference section was dated with ¹⁴C at both ends. The mass accumulation rates were estimated based on dating, weighing, and chemical analysis for both sediment sections. Furthermore, sediment-penetrating echo soundings were used to estimate the amount of sediment in the whole lake basins. These data were used to examine area-specific loading from clay-rich catchments. The average whole-basin pre-disturbance MAR, PMAR, and CMAR were 62 g m⁻² a⁻¹, 0.06 g m⁻² a⁻¹, and 4.7 g m⁻² a⁻¹, respectively. The corresponding recent rates were 11, 13, and 8-fold (693 g m⁻² a⁻¹, 0.79 g m⁻² a⁻¹, and 37 g m⁻² a⁻¹). In the recent conditions, sediments were generally more minerogenic and MAR, PMAR, and CMAR were higher in lakes with more arable fields in their catchments. Average area-specific <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/suspended-sediment" title="Learn more about suspended sediment from ScienceDirect's AI-generated Topic Pages">suspended sediment</a> load from the catchment for the region (∼39% clayey soils) was approximately 69–137 kg ha⁻¹ a⁻¹ in the undisturbed state and 767–1534 kg ha⁻¹ a⁻¹ in recent conditions based on 100–50% retention. The results demonstrate that the increases in sediment, nutrient, and organic matter accumulation due to agriculture can be several fold over undisturbed state.<br></p>