Carbon storage in boreal Quebec lakes

Marie-Eve Ferland, Yves T. Prairie, Paul A. del Giorgio
Université du Québec à Montréal

We studied system-wide carbon accumulation in 13 lakes in the boreal region northern of Québec, with the aim of assessing regional patterns in lake C storage linked to lake and watershed properties. We quantified whole-lake carbon storage with a combination of sub-bottom profiling and estimates of sediment carbon content from surface cores. The approach allows to map the bedrock, inorganic and organic deposits, and the water-sediment interface throughout the lake, and thus to create a three-dimensional perspective of the sediment. The whole-lake carbon storage was then calculated by combining these 3-D sediment maps with sediment C contents obtained from the cores. Here we present the resulting estimates of boreal lake C storage, and explore the patterns with lake and watershed properties. On a per unit surface area basis, lake sediments represent a much larger sink of organic C than boreal soils, and because of the local abundance of lakes, these represent a major regional sink of organic C. We further discuss relationships between lake C storage and lake properties, in particular with a positive relationship between storage, mean depth and lake and basin area.

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