TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kienel, Ulrike
A1  - Plessen, Birgit
A1  - Schettler, Georg
A1  - Weise, Stephan
A1  - Pinkerneil, Sylvia
A1  - Boehnel, Harald
A1  - Englebrecht, Amy C.
A1  - Haug, Gerald H.
T1  - Sensitivity of a hypersaline crater lake to the seasonality of rainfall, evaporation, and guano supply
JF  - Fundamental and applied limnology : official journal of the International Association of Theoretical and Applied Limnology
N2  - The hypersaline crater lake and its catchment on seabird island Isabel (Pacific, off Mexico) was studied to explore the influence of strong seasonal variations in rainfall/evaporation and guano contribution on its limnology. The hypersaline lake water (HSW, 78 %) is up to 2.2-times enriched in inert ions relative to mean seawater. Rainfall during summer dilutes the HSW to form a less saline rainwater body (RWB) above a chemolimnion between 2 and 4 m water depth. The RWB is inhabited first by diatoms and ostracods followed later on by cyanobacteria and ciliates. Evaporation of > 1.5 m depth of lake water over the dry season increases the salinity of the RWB until the water column becomes isohaline at HSW concentrations in the late dry season. Differences in the stable isotope composition of water and primary producers in RWB and HSW reflect this development. Introduction of seabird guano and the decrease of salinity fuel a high primary production in the RWB with higher delta(CDIC)-C-13 and delta(13)Corg of particulate organic matter than in the HSW. The high N supply leads to high delta N-15 NH4 values (+ 39 % in the HSW) as the consequence of ammonia volatilization that is strongest during guano maturation and with evaporative salinity increase from the HSW. Precipitation of carbonate (calcite and aragonite) from the RWB and the HSW is hindered by the high concentration of guano-derived P. This inhibition may be overcome with evaporative supersaturation during particularly dry conditions. Carbonate may also precipitate during particularly wet conditions from the dilute RWB, where the P-concentration is reduced during an active phytoplankton production that raises the pH. Differences in the stable isotope signatures of carbon and oxygen in HSW and RWB (+ 5 % delta(CDIC)-C-13 and -3 % d18OH2O) suggest the processes of carbonate precipitation can be distinguished based on the isotope signature of the carbonates deposited. Changes in the lake system are indicated when lower temperatures and higher rainfall in the 2006 wet season introduced more and less mature guano to the lake. The lower pH was accompanied by lower ammonia volatilization and carbonate precipitation as indicated by an increased concentration of NH4, Ca, Sr and DIC, while delta H-2, delta(NNH4)-N-15, and salinity were lower. According to our results, the observed sediment laminations should reflect the introduction of catchment material (including guano) with runoff, the RWB plankton production, and the carbonate precipitation in relation to its origin and seasonality.
KW  - ammonia volatilization
KW  - carbonate precipitation
KW  - chemocline
KW  - guano
KW  - hypersaline lake
KW  - stable isotopes
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1127/1863-9135/2013/0405
SN  - 1863-9135
VL  - 183
IS  - 2
SP  - 135
EP  - 152
PB  - Schweizerbart
CY  - Stuttgart
ER  -