Spatial-seasonal dynamics of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in Lake.pdf

Authors personal copy Spatial-seasonal dynamics of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in Lake Taihu, a large eutrophic, shallow lake in China Yunlin Zhang a,?, Yan Yin a,b, Xiaohan Liu a,b, Zhiqiang Shi c, Longqing Feng a, Mingliang Liu d, Guangwei Zhu a, Zhijun Gong a, Boqiang Qin a a Taihu Lake Laboratory Ecosystem Research Station, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China bGraduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China cCollege of Environmental Science and Engineering, HoHai University, Nanjing 210098, China d Institute of Environmental Protection Science, Hangzhou 310005, China a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 2 October 2010 Received in revised form 30 November 2010 Accepted 6 March 2011 Available online 12 March 2011 a b s t r a c t From 2005 to 2009, the spatial distribution and the seasonal dynamics of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) were explored in Lake Taihu in eastern China. The spatial-seasonal dynamics of CDOM absorption and three CDOM composition variables, including spectral slope (S), spectral slope ratio (SR) and the M value, defined as the ratio of absorption at 250 nm/365 nm, were analyzed and discussed. Fur- thermore, river input processes and degradation of phytoplankton were studied to assess their impact on CDOM composition and the factors involved in the spatial-seasonal variability of CDOM. The CDOM absorption coefficient at a wavelength of 350 nm, a(350), ranged from 1.37–9.55 m1 with a mean of 3.33 ± 1.32 m1. Spatially, higher a(350) values, but lower spectral slope, spectral slope ratio and M val- ues, were recorded in the northern algae dominated bays while lower values were recorded in southeast- ern macrophyte dominated bays. The a(350) was significantly higher in inshore waters than in offshore waters. Values of S, SR and M decreased during the flood and algal bloom s