Issue 3, 2012
From the journal:

Journal of Environmental Monitoring

A 100-year sedimentary record of natural and anthropogenic impacts on a shallow eutrophic lake, Lake Chaohu, China

Fengyu Zan,ab   Shouliang Huo,*b   Beidou Xi,*b   Chaowei Zhu,b   Haiqing Liao,b   Jingtian Zhangb  and  Kevin M. Yeagerc  

* Corresponding authors

a College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui, China

b State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Beijing, China
E-mail: huoshouliang@126.com
Fax: +86 10 849 138 05
Tel: +86 10 849 379 70

c Department Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

Abstract

In this study, the sediment profiles of total organic carbon, total nitrogen, C/N ratios, total phosphorus, N/P ratios, C/P ratios, particle sizes, and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) were used to investigate natural and anthropogenic impacts on Lake Chaohu over the past 100 years. Before 1960, Lake Chaohu experienced low productivity and a relatively steady and low nutrient input. The increasing concentration and fluxes of total organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, together with changes in the δ13C and δ15N of organic material in the sediment cores, suggested that the anthropogenic effects on trophic status first started because of an increase in nutrient input caused by a population increase in the drainage area. With the construction of the Chaohu Dam, an increase in the utilization of fertilizer and the population growth which occurred since 1960, stable depositional conditions and increasing nutrient input resulted in a dominantly algae-derived organic matter source and high productivity. Nutrient input increased most significantly around 1980 following the rapidly growing population, with concomitant urbanization, industrial and agricultural development. This study also revealed that the concentration and distribution of nutrients varied between different areas of sediment within Lake Chaohu because of the influence of different drainage basins and pollution sources.

Graphical abstract: A 100-year sedimentary record of natural and anthropogenic impacts on a shallow eutrophic lake, Lake Chaohu, China

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C1EM10760G
Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Sep 2011
Accepted
14 Nov 2011
First published
12 Jan 2012

J. Environ. Monit., 2012,14, 804-816

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A 100-year sedimentary record of natural and anthropogenic impacts on a shallow eutrophic lake, Lake Chaohu, China

F. Zan, S. Huo, B. Xi, C. Zhu, H. Liao, J. Zhang and K. M. Yeager, J. Environ. Monit., 2012, 14, 804 DOI: 10.1039/C1EM10760G

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