Geochemical parameters determined in sediment cores from Lake Burgäschi, Switzerland

The sediment P availability and release risk into lake water can be largely evaluated by P fractions in sediments. In deep eutrophic lakes, hypolimnetic anoxia is suggested to prompt sediment-P mobility and potentially increase internal P loading on short term.

However, the long-term effects hypolimnetic redox conditions and trophic state on sedimentary P-fraction retention in deep lakes are not clear. In this study we investigated two sediment cores retrieved from the deepest part of Lake Burgäschi, Switzerland. The age-depth profile based on 210Pb and 137Cs chronology dates back to the early 1900s.