A novel high-resolution in situ tool for studying carbon biogeochemical
processes in aquatic systems: The Lake Aiguebelette case study
Abstract
Lakes and reservoirs are a significant source of atmospheric methane
(CH4), with emissions comparable to the largest global
CH4 emitters. Understanding the processes leading to
such significant emissions from aquatic systems is therefore of primary
importance for producing more accurate projections of emissions in a
changing climate. In this work, we present the first deployment of a
novel membrane inlet laser spectrometer (MILS) for fast simultaneous
detection of dissolved CH4,
C2H6 and
d13CH4. During a 1-day field campaign,
we performed 2D mapping of surface water of Lake Aiguebelette (France).
In the littoral (pelagic) area, average dissolved CH4
concentrations and d13CH4 were 391.9 ±
156.3 (169.8 ± 26.6) nmol L-1 and -67.3 ± 3.4 (-61.5 ±
3.6) ‰, respectively. The dissolved CH4 concentration in
the pelagic zone was fifty times larger than the concentration expected
at equilibrium with the atmosphere, confirming an oversaturation of
dissolved CH4 in surface waters over shallow and deep
areas. The results suggest the presence of CH4 sources
less enriched in 13C in the littoral zone (presumably
the littoral sediments). The CH4 pool became more
enriched in 13C with distance from shore, suggesting
that oxidation prevailed over epilimnetic CH4
production, that was further confirmed by an isotopic mass balance
technique with the high-resolution transect data. This new in
situ fast response sensor allows to obtain unique high-resolution and
high-spatial coverage datasets within a limited amount of survey time.
This tool will be useful in the future for studying processes governing
CH4 dynamics in aquatic systems.