Document Type
Report
Publication Date
January 1984
Abstract
Summary and Conclusions: Laboratory analyses of sediment samples recovered from Deer Creek Reservoir showed the sediments to have amoderate potential for serving as a source of phosphorus (P) for the overlying water solumn under anaerobic conditions. This source could account for the occurrence or exacerbation of blue-green algal blooms in the upper end of the reservoir when the sediment surface becomes anaerobic late in the summer. It could also delay the response of the reservoir to programs that decrease external P loading, if the upper end of the reservoir still has large enough algal blooms to render the sediment-water interface anaerobic. The redox cycle of Fe is closely associated with P release in the reservoir sediments, and aerobic P release rates are probably insignificant in the phosphorus budget of the reservoir. Sediment profiles indicate that the tropich state of the lake has probably not changed significantly since the reservoir was first filled. The profiles do indicate, however, that much of the P input to the lake may be in the relatively unreactive apatite-P traction, and attempts at reducing P loading from external sources should take into account the degree of availability of the P thus removed.
Recommended Citation
Messer, Jay J.; Hardy, Thomas B.; and Ihnat, Jean M., "Sediment-Phosphorus Relationships in Deer Creek Reservoir" (1984). Reports. Paper 217.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/water_rep/217