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Spatial variations in surface water methane super-saturation and emission in Lake Lugano, southern Switzerland

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Abstract

We measured methane concentrations in the surface water of the northern basin of Lake Lugano in spring (May 2012) and autumn (October 2011, 2012), and calculated turbulent diffusive methane fluxes to the atmosphere. Surface water methane concentrations were highly variable in space and time but always exceeded atmospheric equilibrium. Methane concentrations were significantly lower in spring (on average 16 nmol L−1) than during the autumn sampling campaigns (on average 57 nmol L−1 in 2011 and 45 nmol L−1 in 2012). This suggests methane accumulation in the surface mixed layer during the summer productive season. The origin of the methane in the lake’s surface waters requires further assessment, but the observed concentration profiles indicate that the excess methane originates from a near-surface source, rather than from the large deep-water methane pool in the anoxic monimolimnion. As a consequence of the higher surface water methane concentrations and increased buoyancy turbulence caused by autumnal cooling of the surface boundary layer, diffusive fluxes were much higher in October (average ~97 μmol m−2 day−1, compared to 7 μmol m−2 day−1 in May 2012). The increase in methane concentration in the surface water between spring and autumn suggests links between methane accumulation and the annual biological cycle, yet seasonal changes in wind and temperature forcing of methane emission likely play an important modulating role. While the relative importance of biological versus physical controls on methane emission in Lake Lugano awaits further investigations, our study underscores that lakes can act as an important source of methane to the atmosphere, even when the lake-internal microbial methane filter in the water column seems to work efficiently.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Marco Simona for support on Lake Lugano, and Mark Rollog and the late Gijs Nobbe for technical support at the University of Basel and EAWAG, respectively. We are furthermore grateful to two anonymous reviewers, whose constructive comments have helped improve the quality of this manuscript. Wind and temperature data have been provided by MeteoSwiss, the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology. This study was financed through the Swiss National Science Foundation Grant 121861 (Biogeochemical fluxes in South-Alpine Lakes: Linking nitrogen and methane dynamics in lacustrine redox-transition zones using a combined stable isotope and molecular approach).

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  1. Jan Blees

    Present address: Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Villigen, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Jan Blees, Helge Niemann, Markus Erne, Jakob Zopfi & Moritz F. Lehmann

  2. Department of Surface Waters-Research and Management, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Kastanienbaum, Switzerland

    Carsten J. Schubert

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Blees, J., Niemann, H., Erne, M. et al. Spatial variations in surface water methane super-saturation and emission in Lake Lugano, southern Switzerland. Aquat Sci 77, 535–545 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-015-0401-z

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