Seasonal dynamics of organic carbon and metals in thermokarst lakes from the discontinuous permafrost zone of western Siberia

Abstract. Despite relatively good knowledge of the biogeochemistry of Siberian thermokarst lakes during summer base flow, their seasonal dynamics remains almost unexplored. This work describes the chemical composition of ~130 thermokarst lakes ranging in size from a few m2 to several km2, located in the discontinuous permafrost zone. Lakes were sampled during spring flood, just after the ice break (early June), the end of summer (August), the beginning of ice formation (October) and during the full freezing season in winter (February). The lakes larger than 1000 m2 did not exhibit any statistically significant control of the lake size on dissolved organic carbon (DOC), the major and trace element concentrations over three major open water seasons. On the annual scale, the majority of dissolved elements including organic carbon increased their concentration from 30 to 500%, with a statistically significant (p summer > autumn > winter. The ice formation in October included several stages: first, surface layer freezing followed by crack (fissure) formation with unfrozen water from the deeper layers spreading over the ice surface. This water was subsequently frozen and formed layered ice rich in organic matter. As a result, the DOC and metal (Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Ba and Pb) concentrations were highest near the surface of the ice column (0 to 20 cm) and decreased by a factor of 2 towards the bottom. The main implications of discovered freeze-driven solute concentrations in thermokarst lake waters are enhanced colloidal coagulation and removal of dissolved organic matter and associated insoluble metals from the water column to the sediments. The measured distribution coefficients of a TE between amorphous organo-ferric coagulates and lake water (

[1]  S. Audry,et al.  Size Fractionation of Trace Elements in a Seasonally Stratified Boreal Lake: Control of Organic Matter and Iron Colloids , 2012, Aquatic Geochemistry.

[2]  David L. Verbyla,et al.  Mechanisms influencing changes in lake area in Alaskan boreal forest , 2011 .

[3]  P. Dillon,et al.  Dissolved organic and inorganic carbon mass balances in central Ontario lakes , 1997 .

[4]  R. Hesslein,et al.  Multiple tracers demonstrate distinct sources of dissolved organic matter to lakes of the Mackenzie Delta, western Canadian Arctic , 2011 .

[5]  Julia Boike,et al.  Baseline characteristics of climate, permafrost and land cover from a new permafrost observatory in the Lena River Delta, Siberia (1998-2011) , 2012 .

[6]  O. Pokrovsky,et al.  One of the possible mechanisms of thermokarst lakes drainage in West‐Siberian North , 2008 .

[7]  O. Pokrovsky,et al.  Heterotrophic bacterio‐plankton in thawed lakes of the northern part of Western Siberia controls the CO2 flux to the atmosphere , 2009 .

[8]  P. Oliva,et al.  Trace elements in organic- and iron-rich surficial fluids of the boreal zone: Assessing colloidal forms via dialysis and ultrafiltration , 2010 .

[9]  L. Smith,et al.  Geochemistry of west Siberian streams and their potential response to permafrost degradation , 2007 .

[10]  I. Laurion,et al.  Subarctic Thermokarst Ponds: Investigating Recent Landscape Evolution and Sediment Dynamics in Thawed Permafrost of Northern Québec (Canada) , 2014 .

[11]  O. Pokrovsky,et al.  Diurnal variations of trace metals and heterotrophic bacterioplankton concentration in a small boreal lake of the White Sea basin , 2010 .

[12]  Jeremy B. Jones,et al.  Mechanisms influencing changes in lake area in Alaskan boreal forest , 2011 .

[13]  Alexei V. Kouraev,et al.  Seasonal variability of the Western Siberia wetlands from satellite radar altimetry , 2014 .

[14]  D. Kinniburgh,et al.  Generic NICA-Donnan model parameters for metal-ion binding by humic substances. , 2001, Environmental science & technology.

[15]  Isabelle Laurion,et al.  Variability in greenhouse gas emissions from permafrost thaw ponds , 2010 .

[16]  I. Laurion,et al.  Shallow Freshwater Ecosystems of the Circumpolar Arctic , 2011 .

[17]  David Kistler,et al.  Model predictions of metal speciation in freshwaters compared to measurements by in situ techniques. , 2006, Environmental science & technology.

[18]  Johanna Mård Karlsson,et al.  Thermokarst lake, hydrological flow and water balance indicators of permafrost change in Western Siberia , 2012 .

[19]  W. Choi,et al.  Enhanced dissolution of manganese oxide in ice compared to aqueous phase under illuminated and dark conditions. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[20]  O. Pokrovsky,et al.  Impact of western Siberia heat wave 2012 on greenhouse gases and trace metal concentration in thaw lakes of discontinuous permafrost zone , 2013 .

[21]  M. Rautio.  Shallow freshwater ecosystems of the circumpolar Arctic 1 , 2011 .

[22]  F. Chapin,et al.  Methane bubbling from Siberian thaw lakes as a positive feedback to climate warming , 2006, Nature.

[23]  D. Kinniburgh,et al.  Metal ion binding to humic substances: application of the non-ideal competitive adsorption model. , 1995, Environmental science & technology.

[24]  A. Kouraev,et al.  The modern hydrological regime of the northern part of Western Siberia from in situ and satellite observations , 2009 .

[25]  B. Bergamaschi,et al.  Evaluation of specific ultraviolet absorbance as an indicator of the chemical composition and reactivity of dissolved organic carbon. , 2003, Environmental science & technology.

[26]  G. Dieckmann,et al.  Selective incorporation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) during sea ice formation , 2013 .

[27]  Katey Walter Anthony,et al.  Constraining spatial variability of methane ebullition seeps in thermokarst lakes using point process models , 2013 .

[28]  F. Fraysse,et al.  Experimental study of terrestrial plant litter interaction with aqueous solutions , 2010 .

[29]  F. Chapin,et al.  Methane production and bubble emissions from arctic lakes: Isotopic implications for source pathways and ages , 2008 .

[30]  Johanna Mård Karlsson,et al.  Temporal Behavior of Lake Size-Distribution in a Thawing Permafrost Landscape in Northwestern Siberia , 2014, Remote. Sens..

[31]  Björn Berg,et al.  Litter decomposition and organic matter turnover in northern forest soils , 2000 .

[32]  P. Kam,et al.  : 4 , 1898, You Can Cross the Massacre on Foot.

[33]  R. Giesler,et al.  High emission of carbon dioxide and methane during ice thaw in high latitude lakes , 2013 .

[34]  O. Pokrovsky,et al.  Elemental composition of peat profiles in western Siberia: Effect of the micro-landscape, latitude position and permafrost coverage , 2015 .

[35]  M. Hoffmann,et al.  Photoreductive dissolution of iron oxides trapped in ice and its environmental implications. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[36]  Lars Kutzbach,et al.  Application of high-resolution spectral absorbance measurements to determine dissolved organic carbon concentration in remote areas , 2014 .

[37]  T. Hickler,et al.  Links between Terrestrial Primary Production and Bacterial Production and Respiration in Lakes in a Climate Gradient in Subarctic Sweden , 2008, Ecosystems.

[38]  Jeremy B. Jones,et al.  The role of watershed characteristics, permafrost thaw, and wildfire on dissolved organic carbon biodegradability and water chemistry in Arctic headwater streams , 2015 .

[39]  Oleg S. Pokrovsky,et al.  Thermokarst lake waters across the permafrost zones of western Siberia , 2014 .

[40]  Guido Grosse,et al.  Thermokarst lakes, drainage, and drained basins , 2013 .

[41]  S. Audry,et al.  Effect of permafrost thawing on organic carbon and trace element colloidal speciation in the thermokarst lakes of western Siberia , 2011 .

[42]  L. Smith,et al.  Amplified carbon release from vast West Siberian peatlands by 2100 , 2004 .

[43]  C. Lovejoy,et al.  Small Thaw Ponds: An Unaccounted Source of Methane in the Canadian High Arctic , 2013, PloS one.

[44]  F. S. Chapin,et al.  A shift of thermokarst lakes from carbon sources to sinks during the Holocene epoch , 2014, Nature.

[45]  Guido Grosse,et al.  Geologic methane seeps along boundaries of Arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers , 2012 .

[46]  R. Losno,et al.  A Compilation of Silicon, Rare Earth Element and Twenty‐One other Trace Element Concentrations in the Natural River Water Reference Material SLRS‐5 (NRC‐CNRC) , 2013 .

[47]  Oleg S. Pokrovsky,et al.  Organic matter mineralization and trace element post-depositional redistribution in Western Siberia thermokarst lake sediments , 2011 .

[48]  S. Audry,et al.  Biogeochemistry of organic carbon, CO2, CH4, and trace elements in thermokarst water bodies in discontinuous permafrost zones of Western Siberia , 2013, Biogeochemistry.

[49]  R. Hesslein,et al.  Northern Delta Lakes as Summertime CO2 Absorbers Within the Arctic Landscape , 2009, Ecosystems.