Transient and steady-state salt transport between sediments and brine in closed lakes

Abraham Lerman; Blair F. Jones

doi:10.4319/lo.1973.18.1.0072

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USGS · 70241837

Transient and steady-state salt transport between sediments and brine in closed lakes

Abraham Lerman·Blair F. Jones

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Abstract

A diffusional transport model for Lake Abert, Oregon, predicts the rates of salt transport from pore fluids into lake waters. In a lake without outflow dissolved salts may migrate across the sediment-water interface in response to a concentration difference between lake and interstitial brine. Transport of salt upward is transient; its direction can be reversed by external input of salt or by depletion of salts stored in the sediments, and a steady-state concentration in lake water is not attainable. Downward transport can be a stationary process if the sedimentation rate is rapid compared with molecular diffusion of salt in interstitial brine, but characteristic rates arc too slow to lead to steady-state concentrations within the lifetime of a closed lake. In Lake Abert, diffusional flux upward was much more important than input of salt from other sources; 45% of the salt of lake brine in 1963–1964 was added from the sediment pore space during the preceding 25 years, only 0.1% from external inflow. The sediment source will dominate input during high water level. Such models permit comparison of salt transport across the sediment-water interface with other input sources at different times of the lake’s history.

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Limnology and Oceanography Article

Source-reported bounding extent: 42.51869328938571° to 42.781263390155175° latitude; -120.28636622933212° to -120.11013733579298° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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BibTeX RIS

Abraham Lerman, Blair F. Jones. 2003-12-22. Transient and steady-state salt transport between sediments and brine in closed lakes. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1973.18.1.0072

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