Diversity of littoral zoobenthos in Lake Arakhley (Transbaikalia) during the arid phase

There is little data available on the zoobenthos of the Baikal region’s eastern periphery water bodies in low-water years. The taxonomic diversity of zoobenthos of the littoral zone of a deep lake (Arakhley, Transbaikalia) was studied in an extremely low-water year, 2017. The zoobenthos of the lake littoral zone was represented by 44 taxa. Chironomids accounted for 41% of the zoobenthos taxonomic diversity, 14% each – gastropods and leeches. The taxonomic diversity of the littoral zoobenthos in different parts of the lake varied from 19 to 24 taxa and averaged 22.3 ± 1.97 taxa. The relationship between taxonomic diversity and depth in Lake Arakhley is described by polynomial dependence. Deviations from the relationship identified at the periphery of vegetation thickets were due to the ecotone effect. Obtained data shows the state of zoobenthos taxonomic diversity under conditions of climate aridization and the reduction of littoral sandy habitats.

Methane in Lakes: Variability in Stable Carbon Isotopic Composition and the Potential Importance of Groundwater Input

Methane (CH4) is an important component of the carbon (C) cycling in lakes. CH4 production enables carbon in sediments to be either reintroduced to the food web via CH4 oxidation or emitted as a greenhouse gas making lakes one of the largest natural sources of atmospheric CH4. Large stable carbon isotopic fractionation during CH4 oxidation makes changes in 13C:12C ratio (δ13C) a powerful and widely used tool to determine the extent to which lake CH4 is oxidized, rather than emitted. This relies on correct δ13C values of original CH4 sources, the variability of which has rarely been investigated systematically in lakes. In this study, we measured δ13C in CH4 bubbles in littoral sediments and in CH4 dissolved in the anoxic hypolimnion of six boreal lakes with different characteristics. The results indicate that δ13C of CH4 sources is consistently higher (less 13C depletion) in littoral sediments than in deep waters across boreal and subarctic lakes. Variability in organic matter substrates across depths is a potential explanation. In one of the studied lakes available data from nearby soils showed correspondence between δ13C-CH4 in groundwater and deep lake water, and input from the catchment of CH4via groundwater exceeded atmospheric CH4 emissions tenfold over a period of 1 month. It indicates that lateral hydrological transport of CH4 can explain the observed δ13C-CH4 patterns and be important for lake CH4 cycling. Our results have important consequences for modelling and process assessments relative to lake CH4 using δ13C, including for CH4 oxidation, which is a key regulator of lake CH4 emissions.

Topset-to-forest rollover trajectories as reliable predictors of sediment-volume partitioning into deep-lake areas

Topset-to-forest rollover trajectories and their relation to sediment- and sand-budget partitioning into deep-lake areas are far from being well understood, as compared with their marine counterparts of shelf edges. Two quantitatively distinctive topset-to-forest rollover trajectories and clinothem-stacking patterns were recognized in the Oligocene Qikou Sag of the Bohai Bay Basin and are quantified in terms of trajectory angles (Tse), topset thickness (Tt), forest thickness (Tf), bottomset thickness (Tb), and clinothem-set relief (Rc). Rising topset-to-forest trajectories have positive Tse of 0.15°–0.51° (averaging 0.35°). Ranges in Tt, Tf, Tb, and Rc of their associated progradational and aggradational clinothem sets are, respectively, 32.4–58.7 m (averaging 42.7 m), 76.9–176.2 m (averaging 148.3 m), 0 m, and 167.8–320.8 m (averaging 272.9 m). Falling topset-to-forest rollover trajectories, in contrast, have negative Tse of − 0.12° to − 0.02° (averaging − 0.06°). Ranges in Tt, Tf, Tb, and Rc of their associated progradational and downstepping clinothem sets are, respectively, 0 m, 266.0–395.7 m (averaging 333.4 m), 441.1–542.5 m (averaging 464.1), and 874.9–922.6 m (averaging 892.5 m). These two topset-to-forest rollover trajectories and clinothem-stacking patterns are closely linked to two distinctive patterns of sediment- and sand-volume partitioning into deep-lake areas, which are quantified in terms of Tt, Tb, and differential sediment aggradation of topset segments and forest-to-bottomset compartments (As/Ad). Rising topset-to-forest rollover trajectories and associated progradational and aggradational clinothem sets are characterized by aggradational topsets (reported as Tt of 32.4–58.7 m), a lack of time-equivalent bottomsets, and As/Ad of 0.22–0.87 (averaging 0.33), and are fronted by mud-dominated depositional deposits, with sporadic occurrence of thinner and regionally localized forest sands. They are, therefore, inefficient at delivering terrestrial sediments or sands into deep-lake settings. Falling topset-to-forest rollover trajectories and associated progradational and downstepping clinothem sets, in contrast, are characterized by toplap, erosional terminations but aggradational bottomsets (reported as Tb of 266.0–473.4 m), and As/Ad of 0, and are fronted by sand-rich depositional deposits, with widespread occurrence of thicker and regionally extensive time-equivalent deep-lake bottomset sands. They are, thus, efficient at delivering terrestrial sediments or sands into deep-lake settings. Topset-to-forest rollover trajectories and associated clinothem-stacking patterns are thus reliable predictors of sediment- and sand-volume partitioning into deep-lake areas, assisting greatly in developing a more dynamic stratigraphy.

Size Spectra of Pelagic Fish Populations in a Deep Lake—Methodological Comparison between Hydroacoustics and Midwater Trawling

Net sampling by trawling and hydroacoustics was used to methodologically compare size spectra (SS) of the pelagic fish community in a deep lake across 12 years of sampling. Hydroacoustic SS were generated based on either single-echo detections (SEDs) or tracked-echo groups (TEGs) from 20 cross-lake transects. Trawl SS were obtained by a midwater trawl in four pelagic depth layers. All SS were derived from maximum likelihood estimations of exponent b of a continuous fish body mass distribution. The arithmetic mean exponent b was similar for all methods, and there were no significant differences of b among the three methods across years. However, visual inspection indicated that the SS differed considerably between trawling and hydroacoustics in some of the years, primarily when high densities of 0+ coregonid fishes were strongly spatially aggregated and hence caught by the trawl. Accordingly, there was no correlation between SS generated by trawling and hydroacoustics. In contrast, SS generated by SEDs and TEGs were significantly correlated, indicating reliability and reproducibility of obtaining SS by hydroacoustics. The SS estimated by TEGs revealed a positive trend of exponent b over the years since 2005, potentially reflecting the recent eutrophication of Lake Stechlin, which may lead to higher fish growth rates. We conclude that hydroacoustics may help to generate more precise SS of the pelagic fish community in our study lake than midwater trawling. However, the truthfulness of SS estimates cannot be evaluated because of the inherent difficulty in determining the true densities and sizes of fishes in lakes.

Energy analysis using carrier HAP program and Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC) feasibility analysis for Ryerson University

The objective of this project is to determine the total annual energy summary in terms of cost and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission of 16 buildings at Ryerson University (RU). In addition, the Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC) feasibility analysis of RU is another objective of this project in terms of total energy consumption and amount of gas emission reduction. The total audit area of RU was 86% of the total campus area. Building energy simulation program, Carrier HAP (Hourly Analysis Program), has been used to make an integrated evaluation of building energy consumption. An energy simulation involves hour-by-hour calculations for all 8,760 hours in a year. In this project, an energy audit was conducted for the 16 existing buildings to establish the base case model, "Ryerson University", to determine its annual energy consumption across all usage. There are two sources of energy used at RU. Electricity uses for lighting, plug load, miscellaneous and cooling, and remote steam is used for cooling and heating. For the base case model, total energy consumption was 251 TJ. To reduce the total energy consumption of the base case model, HVAC systems were investigated to analyze their energy-based performance and impact on the GHG emission. There is no Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) system coming from the investigation of HVAC system. The sensitivity analysis was conducted using HRV system with air system. By using HRV system with air system, total of 5.6% energy would be saved for cooling and 76% energy would be saved for heating of RU. The energy intensity was determined to be 1.04 GJ/m² only for 16 buildings of RU and comparatively it is lower than other universities in Canada which have a range of 1.64 GJ/m² to 2.26 GJ/m². In the DLWC system, cool lake water at 4°C was used for building air conditioning. To reduce the cooling energy costs, DLWC system was considered as an alternative chilled water source. The Rogers Business Building (RBB) already has DLWC system. For DLWC system, chilled water was served by Enwave to the RBB. According to base case analysis of the RBB with conventional chillers, the electricity consumption was 924594 kWh for RBB due to chillers. With the implementation of DLWC system for the rest of the 15 buildings, total energy saving due to cooling would be 89.2% and GHG emission reduction would be 89% for CO₂, 70% for NOx and 70.4% for SOx due to elimination of chillers.