Long‐term pCO2 trends in Adirondack Lakes. Issue 10 (30th May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Seekell, David A.; Gudasz, Cristian
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 43:Issue 10(2016)
• Page Start: 5109
• Page End: 5115
• Publication Date: 2016-05-30
• Subjects: lakes -- CO2 -- trends -- acid rain -- carbon cycle -- Adirondack Park; Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1002/2016GL068939
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

Abstract: Lakes are globally significant sources of CO2 to the atmosphere. However, there are few temporally resolved records of lake CO2 concentrations and long‐term patterns are poorly characterized. We evaluated annual trends in the partial pressure of CO2 ( p CO2 ) based on chemical measurements from 31 Adirondack Lakes taken monthly over an 18 year period. All lakes were supersaturated with CO2 and were sources of CO2 to the atmosphere. There were significant p CO2 trends in 29% of lakes. The median magnitude of significant positive trends was 32.1 µatm yr −1 . Overall, 52% of lakes had p CO2 trends greater than those reported for the atmosphere and ocean. Significant trends in lake p CO2 were attributable to regional recovery from acid deposition and changing patterns of ice cover. These results illustrate that lake p CO2 can respond rapidly to environmental change, but the lack of significant trend in 71% of lakes indicates substantial lake‐to‐lake variation in magnitude of response. Key Points: There are significant p CO2 trends in 29% of Adirondack Lakes Trends are strongest in lakes recovering from acidification p CO2 trends in 52% of Adirondack Lakes were greater than trends reported for the atmosphere and ocean