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Lake Kivu pp 47–66Cite as

Variability of Carbon Dioxide and Methane in the Epilimnion of Lake Kivu

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Part of the book series: Aquatic Ecology Series ((AQEC,volume 5))

Abstract

We report a dataset of the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) and methane concentrations (CH4) in the surface waters of Lake Kivu obtained during four cruises covering the two main seasons (rainy and dry). Spatial gradients of surface pCO2 and CH4 concentrations were modest in the main basin. In Kabuno Bay, pCO2 and CH4 concentrations in surface waters were higher, owing to the stronger influence of subaquatic springs from depth. Seasonal variations of pCO2 and CH4 in the main basin of Lake Kivu were strongly driven by deepening of the epilimnion and the resulting entrainment of water characterized by higher pCO2 and CH4 concentrations. Physical and chemical vertical patterns in Kabuno Bay were seasonally stable, owing to a stronger stratification and smaller surface area inducing fetch limitation of wind driven turbulence. A global and regional cross-system comparison of pCO2 and CH4 concentrations in surface waters of lakes highlights the peculiarity of Kabuno Bay in terms of pCO2 values in surface waters. In terms of surface CH4 concentrations, both Kabuno Bay and the main basin of Lake Kivu are at the lower end of values in lakes globally, despite the huge amounts of CH4 and CO2 in the deeper layers of the lake.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Boniface Kaningini and Pascal Isumbisho Mwapu (Institut Supérieur Pédagogique, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Laetitia Nyina-wamwiza (National University of Rwanda, Butare, Rwanda) and their respective teams for logistic support during the cruises, to Sebastian Sobek for sharing his pCO2 database and reviewing the previous versions of the manuscript. This work was funded by the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) under the CAKI (Cycle du carbone et des nutriments au Lac Kivu) project (contract n° 2.4.598.07), and contributes to the European Research Council starting grant project AFRIVAL (African river basins: catchment-scale carbon fluxes and transformations, 240002) and to the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office EAGLES (East African Great Lake Ecosystem Sensitivity to changes, SD/AR/02A) project. AVB, BD and GL are research associates at the FNRS. FD was a postdoctoral researcher at the FNRS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Oceanography Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Alberto V. Borges, Bruno Delille, Marc-Vincent Commarieu, Willy Champenois & François Darchambeau

  2. Departement Aard- en Omgevingswetenschappen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Steven Bouillon & Cédric Morana

  3. Laboratoire Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques, Université de Bordeaux 1, Bordeaux, France

    Gwenaël Abril & Dominique Poirier

  4. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Laboratorio de Potamologia Amazônica, Universidad Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil

    Gwenaël Abril

  5. Laboratoire d’Océanologie, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Gilles Lepoint

  6. Ecologie des Systèmes Aquatiques, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Pierre Servais

  7. Research Unit in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium

    Jean-Pierre Descy

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  1. Alberto V. Borges
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  2. Steven Bouillon
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  7. Gilles Lepoint
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  8. Cédric Morana
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  12. François Darchambeau
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alberto V. Borges .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Biology, University of Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, Namur, 5000, Belgium

    Jean-Pierre Descy

  2. , Chemical Oceanography Unit, University of Liège, Allée du 6-Août 17, Liège, 4000, Belgium

    François Darchambeau

  3. EAWAG, Seestrasse 79, Kastanienbaum, 6047, Switzerland

    Martin Schmid

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Borges, A.V. et al. (2012). Variability of Carbon Dioxide and Methane in the Epilimnion of Lake Kivu. In: Descy, JP., Darchambeau, F., Schmid, M. (eds) Lake Kivu. Aquatic Ecology Series, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4243-7_4

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