Seasonal and spatial variations in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in a eutrophic brackish lake, Lake Hamana, Japan

The dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity in the surface brackish waters of Lake Hamana were investigated monthly from October 2017 to September 2019 at 14 stations. The partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) in the surface water ranged from 29 to 1476 μatm and was undersaturated for atmospheric CO2 during the observation periods, although most coastal waters were net source areas because of the large amount of terrestrial organic and inorganic carbon input. Since there was a strong negative correlation between pCO2 and the dissolved oxygen, seasonal and temporal variations in pCO2 were mainly derived from phytoplankton activity. The high phytoplankton activity induced by the effluents from sewage treatment plants, which was low in carbon and high in nitrogen. Therefore, in urbanized coastal waters with sewage treatment plants, such as the coastal waters of Japan, there is a possibility of shifting from weaker carbon dioxide source areas to sink areas. However, pCO2 was oversaturated at the polluted river mouth, especially after high precipitation events due to the large carbon supply.