In this study, we experimentally investigated the degradation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) during lateral and vertical mixing of different water masses in a peri-alpine lake. River intrusions and vertical winter turnover in Lake Geneva (Switzerland, France) were simulated through short-term laboratory incubations by mixing riverine and lacustrine waters or lacustrine waters collected at different depths in winter. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) degradation was monitored by dissolved oxygen (DO) measurements and changes in DOM composition were tracked by fluorescence spectroscopy in pure and mixed treatments during 72h. Initial DOC content and DOM composition were relatively similar between end-members. The amount of DOC respired at the end of the incubation was similar between treatments, but decay constants in mixed treatments derived from a first-order decay model were significantly higher than expected values calculated based on a simple mass balance model. Fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) in mixed treatments followed non-conservative patterns that could not be predicted based on observations made in pure treatments. Hence, one protein-like and one microbial-like fluorophore that were consumed in lake waters were continuously produced in mixed treatments although lake waters represented 90% of the mix. No relationships were observed between the rate of DOC consumption and the initial DOM composition, suggesting that other factors such as nutrients and/or interactions in microbial communities were involved. Moreover, no relationships were found between DOC and FDOM patterns during incubations, suggesting that these measurements targeted different facets of microbial metabolism of DOM, respectively microbial respiration (catabolism) and microbial production (anabolism). While additional investigations are required in order to identify the drivers of these changes, this study provides evidence of non-conservative behavior of DOM degradation in mixing zones in lakes.

AQUATIC SCIENCES   卷: 81   期: 4     文献号: UNSP 64   出版年: 2019