Recent increase in sediment dry matter, carbon, and phosphorus accumulation in small boreal lakes with clayey catchments

This study estimated the mass accumulation rates of sediment (MAR), carbon (CMAR), and phosphorus (PMAR) in small Finnish lakes with agricultural clayey catchments over a 25-year period (1986–2011) and compared these with the conditions before major agricultural land use. Twenty-two lakes were cored for recent and reference (pre-disturbance) sediments. The recent sediment section was selected based on the 1986 ¹³⁷Cs fallout peak (TOP), whereas the pre-disturbance section (REF) was selected immediately below the first signs of human-induced erosion. The 50-cm reference section was dated with ¹⁴C at both ends. The mass accumulation rates were estimated based on dating, weighing, and chemical analysis for both sediment sections. Furthermore, sediment-penetrating echo soundings were used to estimate the amount of sediment in the whole lake basins. These data were used to examine area-specific loading from clay-rich catchments. The average whole-basin pre-disturbance MAR, PMAR, and CMAR were 62 g m⁻² a⁻¹, 0.06 g m⁻² a⁻¹, and 4.7 g m⁻² a⁻¹, respectively. The corresponding recent rates were 11, 13, and 8-fold (693 g m⁻² a⁻¹, 0.79 g m⁻² a⁻¹, and 37 g m⁻² a⁻¹). In the recent conditions, sediments were generally more minerogenic and MAR, PMAR, and CMAR were higher in lakes with more arable fields in their catchments. Average area-specific suspended sediment load from the catchment for the region (∼39% clayey soils) was approximately 69–137 kg ha⁻¹ a⁻¹ in the undisturbed state and 767–1534 kg ha⁻¹ a⁻¹ in recent conditions based on 100–50% retention. The results demonstrate that the increases in sediment, nutrient, and organic matter accumulation due to agriculture can be several fold over undisturbed state.