The Migration Law of Iron during the Process of Water Icing

In this study, we utilized simulated icing experiments to investigate the effect of icing thickness, freezing temperature and initial concentration on the migration of iron in the ice–water system during water icing. The distribution coefficient “K” (the ratio of the average concentration of iron in the ice to that in the under-ice water) was used to describe the effect. The results indicated that iron partitioned stronger to under-ice water than to ice during the process of water icing, resulting in the concentration of iron in ice–water system before and after freezing being expressed as: ice < pre-freezing water < under-ice water. K decreased with the increase in icing thickness, freezing temperature and initial concentration. The temperature change in the solution will change the solubility of the solvent, so we explained the migration of iron during the process of water icing from the perspective of solid–liquid equilibrium theory. Too high or too low iron concentration may inhibit the growth of algae, thus affecting the underwater ecological environment. We expect that our study will arouse researcher’s attention to the change in iron concentration in shallow lakes and ponds at high latitudes during the icebound period.

Synthesis of limnological data from lakes and ponds across Arctic and Boreal Canada

A compilation of published and new limnological data from 1489 shallow lakes and ponds in northern Canada, sampled between 1979 and 2009, revealed significant patterns that correlated with landscape features and climate. Lakes and ponds underlain by Archean or Proterozoic bedrock had lower specific conductivity and pH. Vegetation cover had a lesser influence on these parameters. Forested landscapes tended to have higher phosphorus and nitrogen, as did younger rock types. Dissolved organic carbon was higher, but dissolved inorganic carbon was lower in forested regions. Phytoplankton biomass of the surface waters, as estimated by chlorophyll a concentrations, was positively correlated with July air temperature and nutrients, and was higher in forested relative to polar desert regions. There were no significant differences in the measured limnological variables between shallow (<2 m depth) and deep lakes (>2 m); however, all water chemistry parameters were negatively correlated with depth. Despite large variability within and among regions, spatial trends in water chemistry were associated with geology, vegetation, and climate at a continental scale.