SEDIMENTARY PHOSPHORUS IN LAKE CORES - OBSERVATIONS ON DEPOSITIONAL PATTERN IN LAKE MENDOTA

An available phosphorus extraction procedure was used to analyze a core from the deepest portion of Lake Mendota, Wis. The rate of available phosphorus deposition was constant in the marl, increased concomitantly with the change from marl to sludge, reached a maximum about 30 cm. below the sediment-water interface, and decreased gradually thereafter toward the surface. The initial increase probably corresponds to man’s first appearance in the watershed; the decrease may be associated with the removal of sewage effluent from the lake in 1899. The available phosphorus comprises about one-half of the total and appears to be associated with the carbonate portion of the sediment. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.