The availability of phosphorus from the anoxic hypolimnia of lakes to epilimnetic plankton was investigated by experimental studies on eight lakes in Ontario and Quebec. Availability was determined with a short-term bioassay based on the standardized retardation of planktonic uptake of phosphorus tracer in the presence of orthophosphate; availability was also estimated by SRP (soluble reactive phosphorus) analysis, since approximately 90% of SRP was available in anoxic waters. / Iron concentrations were high in some hypolimnia, but should become diluted after mixing with surface water. When iron concentrations after mixing exceeded 0.20 mg/L, aeration lowered availability and SRP. Therefore, samples from anoxic hypolimnia were kept anoxic. The fate of hypolimnetic phosphorus at turnover was studied by construction of a budget for SRP, total phosphorus, particulate iron containing phosphorus and particulate biological phosphorus at fall turnover in Lake Magog. Despite high concentrations of hypolimnetic iron, only 30% of the upwelling hypolimnetic phosphorus combined with iron after complete mixing, 30% was incorporated into biomass and 38% stayed potentially available as SRP. / In two lakes, hypolimnetic iron was undetectable hydrogen sulfide concentrations were high. H(,2)S interfered with the SRP analysis and poisoned plankton. After degassing, routine SRP analysis was possible, and availability was close to 100%. Iron and H(,2)S interference in the SRP analysis were circumvented by degassing or by maintaining anoxia. A simpler method, the analysis of TRP (total reactive phosphorus) after aeration, was developed which analyses SRP quantitatively in anoxic waters.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.71914 |
| Date | January 1984 |
| Creators | Nürnberg, Gertrud. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Biology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 000190546, proquestno: AAINK66656, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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