In-situ, high-resolution evidence from water-sediment interface for significant role of iron bound phosphorus in eutrophic lake

Potential release of phosphorus (P) bound to iron (Fe) is critical because of the aggravating effects on P load in aquatic ecosystems. However, the process is largely unknown due to the absence of in-situ high-resolution evidence. Dissolved oxygen (DO), ferrous ion (Fe²⁺), and dissolved reactive phosphate (DRP) in interstitial water of sediment columns from a eutrophic shallow lake were measured using the novel colorimetric planar optode imaging method and ZrO-Chelex DGT technology during controlled experimental episodes. The solid Fe and P fractions in sediments were also simultaneously evaluated by employing sequential extraction procedure and spectra scanning analysis including SEM-EDS and ⁵⁷Fe-Mössbauer spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that the DO penetration depths were accordingly regulated with time, the depths depended on the oxygen supply patterns, and oxygen depletion occurred at anaerobic intervals. Considerable increases of concentrations and diffusion of Fe²⁺ and DRP in interstitial water upward from the deep layer into the overlying water were mirrored by decreased concentrations of solid Fe bound P and mineral phase Fe(II) during an anaerobic episode. This confirmed that the re-dissolution of solid Fe bound P pools is the most important source of labile P, and aggravates the P budget in lake water via anaerobic intervals. The reduction-precipitation mechanism of Fe bound P during different oxidation scenarios indicated that the Fe bound P in sediments can act as intermediates between Po and Ca bound P, and result in the permanent burying of authigenic Ca bound P. Significantly positive correlations (R² ≥ 0.7783, n = 74) between labile Fe²⁺ and DRP on both redox conditions also provided explicit evidence for the critical role of redox controlling Fe in labile P cycling at the lacustrine sediment-water interface. These findings provide improved insight for potential controlling effort of Fe coupled P to labile P depending on the oxygen supply in shallow-water hypereutrophic lakes.

Evaluation of simulated dredging to control internal phosphorus release from sediments: Focused on phosphorus transfer and resupply across the sediment-water interface

Sediment dredging is an effective restoration method to control the internal phosphorus (P) loading of eutrophic lakes. However, the core question is that the real mechanism of dredging responsible for sediment internal P release still remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the P exchange across the sediment-water interface (SWI) and the internal P resupply ability from the sediments after dredging. The study is based on a one-year field simulation study in Lake Taihu, China, using a Rhizon soil moisture sampler, high-resolution dialysis (HR-Peeper), ZrO-Chelex diffusive gradients in thin film (ZrO-Chelex DGT), and P fractionation and adsorption isotherm techniques. The results showed low concentration of labile P in the pore water with a low diffusion potential and a low resupply ability from the sediments after dredging. The calculated flux of P from the post-dredged sediments decreased by 58% compared with that of non-dredged sediments. Furthermore, the resupply in the upper 20mm of the post-dredged sediments was reduced significantly after dredging (P<0.001). Phosphorus fractionation analysis showed a reduction of 25% in the mobile P fractions in the post-dredged sediments. Further analysis demonstrated that the zero equilibrium P concentration (EPC₀), partitioning coefficient (K_p), and adsorption capacity (Q_max) on the surface sediments increased after dredging. Therefore, dredging could effectively reduce the internal P resupply ability of the sediments. The reasons for this reduction are probably the lower contributions of mobile P fractions, higher retention ability, and the adsorption capacity of P for post-dredged sediments. Overall, this investigation indicated that dredging was capable of effectively controlling sediment internal P release, which could be ascribed to the removal of the surface sediments enriched with total phosphorus (TP) and/or organic matter (OM), coupled with the inactivation of P to iron (Fe) (hydr)oxides in the upper 20mm active layer.

A millimeter-scale observation of the competitive effect of phosphate on promotion of arsenic mobilization in sediments

A millimeter-scale investigation is key to the understanding of the competitive effects of phosphate(P) on arsenic(As) mobility in sediments by taking the great biogeochemical heterogeneity of the sediments into consideration. In this study, a microcosm experiment was performed in this aspect using high-resolution dialysis and diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) to simultaneously measure dissolved and labile P, As, and iron (Fe) in sediments, respectively. With the increase of P content in water from 0.02 mg L^-1 to 0.20 and 2.4 mg L^-1, consistent release of As from sediments was observed. The concentrations of DGT-labile As increased significantly especially in the upper sediment layer (up to 12 times of the 0.02 mg P L^-1 treatment) due to the competition of phosphate, which corresponded well to the increase in DGT-labile P. There was limited increase in dissolved P and As contents due to the buffering provided by sediment solids, while the concentrations of both dissolved and DGT-labile Fe in sediments decreased. A stoichiometric calculation showed that 47% and 8% of the added P were removed through Fe(II) precipitation for the 0.20 and 2.4 mg P L^-1 treatments, respectively, which greatly suppressed the release of As induced by P competition for the 0.20 mg P L^-1 treatment. The DGT-induced fluxes in sediments (DIFS) modeling showed an increase in solid resupply to pore water As from elevation of water P through the increases of the desorption rate constant from 5.4 to 31( × 10^-7) s^-1 and the sorption rate constant from 1.8 to 22( × 10^-4) s^-1.

In situ, high resolution ZrO-Chelex DGT for the investigation of iron-coupled inactivation of arsenic in sediments by macrozoobenthos bioturbation and hydrodynamic interactions

The influence of chironomid larvae and hydrodynamics on the bioavailable arsenic (As) in sediments under different conditions was comprehensively investigated through water tank experiments spanning 132days. The high-resolution technique of revealing diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) with ZrO-Chelex resin was employed in this study; this was done to simultaneously obtain concentrations of labile As and Fe in the profile at millimeter resolution. Bioturbation by larvae may significantly decrease the bioavailable As and Fe concentrations under different hydrodynamic intensities during the first two months of larval burrowing; the greatest difference between the bioavailable As concentration with and without the addition of larvae was seen on the 56th day, with around 49%, 47%, 73% and 67% reduction of As in the profile under static water, 0.3ms(-1), 0.5ms(-1) and 1.0ms(-1), respectively. However, these effects were diminished after the 56th day due to the eclosion of the chironomid larvae. The hydrodynamic conditions appeared to not have any significant effect on the labile concentration of As or Fe until after eclosion. The changing distributions of labile As and Fe were consistent with the dissolved oxygen concentrations in the profile under different conditions. Labile As showed the significantly correlation coefficients with labile Fe by a stepwise multiple linear regression under different experimental conditions in this study. We conclude that the decreases in bioavailable As are directly related to conversions between Fe(2+) and Fe(3).

Iron-coupled inactivation of phosphorus in sediments by macrozoobenthos (chironomid larvae) bioturbation: Evidences from high-resolution dynamic measurements

The effects of chironomid larvae bioturbation on the lability of phosphorus (P) in sediments were investigated through sediment incubation for 140 days. High-resolution dialysis (HR-Peeper) and diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) techniques were applied to obtain soluble and labile P/Fe profiles at a millimeter resolution, respectively. The larvae bioturbation decreased concentrations of soluble/labile P and Fe by up to over half of the control at the sediment depths of influence up to 70 and 90 mm respectively. These effects continued over 116 days and disappeared on the 140th days due to eclosion of chironomid larvae. Labile P was highly correlated with labile Fe, while a weak correlation was observed between soluble P and soluble Fe. It was concluded that Fe(II) oxidation and its enhanced adsorption were the major mechanisms responsible for the decreases of soluble and labile P.