Carbon cycling in large lakes of the world: A synthesis of production, burial, and lake-atmosphere exchange estimates

Simone R. Alin, Thomas C. Johnson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

154 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a synthesis of available estimates of primary production, organic carbon burial, and lake-atmosphere carbon dioxide exchange data for large lakes of the world. All three fluxes showed significant relationships with latitude and related climate variables, with lower production, higher evasion of carbon dioxide, and higher burial efficiency at higher latitudes. There was no relationship between raw organic carbon mass accumulation rates and latitude. Our estimates suggest that an order of magnitude more carbon is lost to the atmosphere by evasion than is buried in sediments at a global scale, with total global production, evasion, and burial fluxes of approximately 250, 90, and 7 Tg C yr-1. Finally, the data suggest a trend from autotrophy in low-latitude large lakes to heterotrophy and increasing reliance on allochthonous carbon sources in lakes at higher latitudes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberGB3002
JournalGlobal Biogeochemical Cycles
Volume21
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2007

Bibliographical note

Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Continental Scientific Drilling Facility tags

  • GLAD2
  • GLAD1
  • M98
  • BH
  • VICTORIA
  • 51
  • LIAF
  • TURKANA
  • EDW
  • ISSYK

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Carbon cycling in large lakes of the world: A synthesis of production, burial, and lake-atmosphere exchange estimates'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this