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Upstream Sources Inhibit Benthic Phosphorus Fluxes in the Lower Great Miami River, Southwest Ohio

Mullen, Kortney
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1496852595092696

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Human activities have increased nutrient loadings to aquatic ecosystems during the past century. During low river flow in late summer and early fall, excessive concentrations of phosphorus (P) are present in the Lower Great Miami River (LGMR) and contribute to its eutrophication. Although wastewater treatment plants are suspected of being major point sources of P to the LGMR during low river flow, riverbed sediment has not been examined as an additional potential source of P. Benthic P fluxes were measured at 11 representative locations along the LGMR during late summer and early fall of 2015. Sediment and overlying water sampled from the LGMR were incubated in laboratory flux chambers, and total and filtered P were measured over time in overlying water to estimate fluxes. Concentrations of P in river water and benthic fluxes of filtered total P (range from -50 to 390 µmol m-2 d-1) varied considerably among sites and sampling periods. Benthic fluxes of filtered total P were inversely related to filtered total P concentrations in overlying river water (p = 0.002, r = -0.60). This relationship suggests that elevated concentrations in river water inhibit mobilization of P from sediment, likely by minimizing the concentration gradient between pore and overlying water. Accordingly, upstream sources that increase concentrations of P in river water, including wastewater treatment plants, could inhibit the potential for P to be remobilized from, as opposed to temporarily stored in, downstream sediment.
Chad R. Hammerschmidt, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Silvia E. Newell, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Mark J. McCarthy, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
67 p.
Environmental Science
environmental science

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Mullen, K. (2017). Upstream Sources Inhibit Benthic Phosphorus Fluxes in the Lower Great Miami River, Southwest Ohio [Master's thesis, Wright State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1496852595092696

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Mullen, Kortney. Upstream Sources Inhibit Benthic Phosphorus Fluxes in the Lower Great Miami River, Southwest Ohio. 2017. Wright State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1496852595092696.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Mullen, Kortney. "Upstream Sources Inhibit Benthic Phosphorus Fluxes in the Lower Great Miami River, Southwest Ohio." Master's thesis, Wright State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1496852595092696

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

wright1496852595092696
422
© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.