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Sources and sinks of nitrous oxide (N2O) in deep lakes

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Abstract

As reported from marine systems, we found that also in15 prealpine lakes N2O concentrations werestrongly correlated with O2 concentrations. Inoxic waters below the mixed surface layer, N2Oconcentrations usually increased with decreasingO2 concentrations. N2O is produced in oxicepilimnia, in oxic hypolimnia and at oxic-anoxicboundaries, either in the water or at the sediment-waterinterface. It is consumed, however, incompletely anoxic layers. Anoxic water layers weretherefore N2O undersaturated. All studied lakeswere sources for atmospheric N2O, including thosewith anoxic, N2O undersaturated hypolimnia.However, compared to agriculture, lakes seem not tocontribute significantly to atmospheric N2Oemissions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Sciences and Technology (EAWAG), Limnological Research Center, CH-6047, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland

    MARTIN MENGIS, RENÉ GÄCHTER & BERNHARD WEHRLI

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  1. MARTIN MENGIS
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  2. RENÉ GÄCHTER
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  3. BERNHARD WEHRLI
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MENGIS, M., GÄCHTER, R. & WEHRLI, B. Sources and sinks of nitrous oxide (N2O) in deep lakes. Biogeochemistry 38, 281–301 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005814020322

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