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ELSEVIER The Scienceof the Total Environment 206 (1997) l-15
A contribution to the study of the heavy-metal andnutritional element status of some lakes in the southern
Andes of Patagonia (Argentina)
B. Markert aT*,F. Pedrozob, W. Geller”, K. Friese”, S. Korhammer”,G. Bafficob, M. Diazb, S. W61fl”
‘Internatio nal Graduate Sch ool Zittau (IHI), Markt 23, 02763 Zittay Germany
bCentro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Universidad National de1 Comahue, Quintrall250,8400 Bariloche, Argentina
‘UFZ Centre for Environm ental Researc h Leipzig/ Halle , Department for Inland Water Resea rch Magdeburg,
Am Biedetitzer Busch 12,39114 Magdeburg, Germany
Received 17 March 1997;accepted20 June 1997
Abstract
Various nutrients and chemical elements, as well as other parameters, were to be measured by different methods
in water and plankton samples from three Argentinian lakes in the Andes: Lake Nahuel Huapi, Lake Gutierrez and
Lake Mascardi. The quality of the instrumental measurements was control led by independent methods (TXRF andICP/MS) and by using reference materials (NIST 1643~ and BCR/CRM 414). Al l the chemical concentrations werevery low, which means that al l the lakes can be classified as oligotrophic to ultra-oligotrophic. Slightly increased
concentrations within the lakes investigated may be attributed to anthropogenic influences from the town ofBariloche in the case of Lake Nahuel Huapi or to the glac ial influence of the Upper Manso River, which carriesconsiderable amounts of dissolved salts and suspended particles from the Tronador glacier. The waters are very
dilu te solutions dominated by calcium, bicarbonates and dissolved silica. The ionic composition is largely below theworld average given by Livingstone (1963, in: Home AJ, Goldman CR. Limnology, 2nd ed. USA: McGraw Hil l,
1994576). The Andean-Patagonian lake waters showed concentrations of Cr, Sr, Zn, Cu, Co and Pb that were of thesame order as the freshwater world average. The remaining elements (P, S, Si, Fe, Mn, Ni, Na, K, Mg, Ca, As, Cl andCd) fal l below or around the limit for the freshwater world average. With the exception of calcium, which is twice as
high as in reference freshwater (Markert B. Inorganic chemical fingerprinting of the environment; reference
freshwater, a useful tool for comparison and harmonization of analytical data in freshwater chemistry. Fresenius’ ZAnal Chem 1994;349:697-702), the element concentrations (S, Fe, Mg, Na, K and Sr) are lower than in referencefreshwater. The phytoplankton biomass was mainly dominated by Dinophyceae in Mascardi and Gutierrez lakes and
by Bacillariophyceae in Lake Nahuel Huapi. The phytoplankton shows greater accumulation of the minerals K andCa, and the essential trace elements (Mg, Fe, Cu and Zn) than the zooplankton. Sulphur occurs in greater
* Corresponding author.
0048-9697/97/$17.00 0 1997Elsevier ScienceB.V. Ail rights reserved.PZZ SOO48-9697(97)00218-O
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2 B. Markert et al. / The Sci ence of the Tot al Environment 206 (1997) l-15
concentrations in zooplankton than in phytoplankton, this could be due to higher protein contents. In the case 01non-essential elements that are toxic at higher concentrations (As and Pb) it is noticeable that the levels are similar
for phyto- and zooplankton. This indicates that these substances are taken up passively from the water and deposited
in the organism. In general i t can be said that the organisms accumulate al l the elements by lOO- to lOOO-fold inrelation of the surrounding environment. 0 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.
Keywords: Lakes; Multi-element analysis; Heavy metals; Water; Plankton
1. Introduction
When evaluating the productivity and trophic
status of lakes it is essential to know of anyfactors that may limit the growth of phytoplank-
ton and zooplankton. The notion that most lakes
in the temperate zones are P-limited may indeedbe regarded as a paradigm of limnology (Zaucke
et al., 1992). This applies initially at the concep-
tual level o f a classic ecosystem approach that is
based on the abstract stage of the primary pro-
ducers. But in reality phytoplankton communities
are a complex mixture of species with highlyindividual life histories; this also applies to their
nutritional requirements. In view of their biologi-cal diversity it is most unlikely that all phyto-
plankton populations in a community of organ-
isms are limited by a single factor (Zaucke et al.,
1992; Markert and Geller, 1994). This is alreadyevident from the biochemical and metabolic fact
that plant organisms require a considerable num-
ber of other macronutrients (C, H, 0, N, P, S, K,
Ca and Mg) and micronutrients (Cl, Si, Mn, Na,
Fe, Zn, B, Cu, Cr, MO and Co) in order to exist.
Tropical water systems seem to differ fromthose of the temperate zones in that they have a
greater variety of factors limiting the growth of
algae (Zaucke et al., 1992). For example, evidence
of P-limitation emerges from bioassays of black-
water systems in the Amazon region (Zaret et al.,
1981) and various man-made lakes in Zimbabwe(Robarts and Southall, 1977). On the other hand,similar experiments conducted on tropical lakes
tend to indicate N-limitation; such water bodies
include various man-made lakes in Brazil (Henryand Tundisi, 19821, Lake Titicaca (Wurtsbauch et
al., 1985) and whitewater systems of the Amazon
region (Zaret et al., 1981; Grobelaar, 1983).
The following sections are devoted to the initial
results of a sampling campaign carried out on
Argentinean lakes in the Andes; this campaign
was intended as a pilot project for further investi-gations. As part of the work described, sampleswere taken from three different lakes to give a
rough idea of:
1. The nutrient and heavy-metal content of the
water; and
2. The composition of the phytoplankton andzooplankton.
The objective of this and subsequent series of
tests is to use such unpolluted lake systems as‘reference’ or ‘baseline’ systems for comparative
analyses of more polluted lakes, especially in thenorthern hemisphere.
2. Study area
The lakes are located at 41”s 71”W (Fig. 1).
The morphometric characteristics are given in
Table 1. Although most of the lakes are set in a
mountainous landscape where glacial geomor-phology predominates, surrounded by well-devel-
oped forests, some, including Nahuel Huapi, may
reach the fringe of the Patagonian Steppe on
their eastern edges. The climate has been charac-
terized as moderately continental (INTA, 1982),ranging from cold temperate near the Andes
Mountains to arid and warmer (desertic) on thePatagonian Plateau (41% 68”W). The prevaiIing
westerl ies lose most of their moisture over the
Andes, resulting in a strong west-to-east precipi-tation gradient. At stations on the Argentine-
Chilean border (1020 m.a.s.1.) precipitation is 2700
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3 B. Markert et al. /The Sci ence of the Tot al Environment 206 (1997) I-15
was sampled at two sites: the Tronador and Cate-
dral arms. Lake Guterriez was sampled at itsextreme northern point, while Lake Nahuel Huapi
was sampled of f Puerto Paiiuelo and of f Bar-
iloche City, an area of low pollution on the coast
(only samples for heavy-metal analysis were col-lected at this site). The Upper Manso River, the
main tributary of Lake Mascardi, was also sam-
pled. The sampling of these lakes was done dur-
ing the snow melt period and it is representative
of the end of water column mixing period (Fig. 2).
Spring is a season with increase of light and water
temperature, and accumulation of nutrients. Un-der these high availability of resources an algal
maximum biomass is expected.
The temperature profile was established using
YSI equipment. Conductivity and pH, adjusted to
25°C were measured with potentiometric equip-
ment. Dissolved oxygen was measured by
Winkler’s method, in Lake Nahuel Huapi only.
Water for nutrient analyses was collected using
a Van Dorn bottle at depths of 5 m and 40 m.Samples for heavy-metal analyses were collected
using a Hydro-Bios collector (MERCOS 436 252
model). The samples were immediately trans-
ferred to pre-cleaned polypropylene flasks steril-ized with 1 ml of ultra-pure nitric acid. Phyto-
plankton samples were collected at depths of 5,
10, 20 and 40 m, then integrated to form one
sample and preserved with acetic Lug01 solution.
Chlorophyll concentration was measured in sub-
surface samples (N 0.50 m) extracted with 90%
acetone (APHA, 1985). Eight hundred litres werepumped from a depth of 3-5 m with a peristaltic
pump and passed through a 63-pm sieve and a
25-pm plankton net. For the purposes of this
article the 63-pm fraction will be termed the
‘zooplankton fraction’ and the 25-pm fraction the
‘phytoplankton fraction’. Both fractions were con-
centrated on a 0.45~pm membrane filter for
Temperature (“C)
5 6 7 6 9 IO 11 12 13 14
-30 --
-35 .-
-40 -- r.-
-+a tb -c -cl 1
Fig. 2. Temperature profiles of the Patagonian lakes: (a) Mascardi (Tronador arm); (b) Mascardi (Catedral arm); (c) Gutierrez; and
td) Nahuel Huapi.
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B. Markert et al. / The Science of the Total Environment 206 (1997) l-15 5
heavy-metal analysis. A second aliquot of the
63-pm fraction was fixed with sugar-formalin (fi-nal concentration 4% volume) for zooplankton
analyses including analyses of large ciliates.
Nutrients and major ions were determined in the
chemical laboratory of the Centro Regional Uni-
versitario Bariloche as follows: soluble reactivephosphorus (SRP) by molybdate blue, ascorbic
acid reduction; total phosphorus (TP) by persul-
phate oxidation and SRP analysis; nitrates plus
nitrites by cadmium column reduction and diazoic
complexion. Ammonia wa s determined by the in-
dophenol-blue method, calcium and magnesiumby microtitration (EDTA), sodium and potassium
by flame photometry, sulphates by turbidimetry
and alkalinity by titration. All the above standard
analytical methods were performed according to
the recommendations of Standard Methods
(API-IA, 1985). Dissolved inorganic nitrogen(DIN) wa s considered to be the sum of nitrates +
ammonia + nitrites.
Heavy-metal analyses were performed at UFZ
with a commercial total reflection X-ray fluores-
cence spectrometer (TRFX, EXTRA II A,
Atomika Instruments Ltd., OberschleilJheim/Munich, F.R.G.) including Si(Li) detector (resolu-tion 168 eV at 5.9 keV), electronics and a data
processing system. Both MO-tube and W-tube ex-
citation were used for analysis, with tube settings
of 50 kV and lo-38 mA. The measuring time was
uniformly 1000 s for MO-excitation and 2000 s for
W-excitation, Details are given in Reus et al.(1993) and Friese et al. (1997). In addition, sam-
ples were measured with an Elan 5000 device
from the Perkin Elmer/Sciex company. Rhodium
was used as a response element so that matrixinfluences could be taken into account in the
measurements. The samples were measured indiluted (1:lO) and undiluted form. Further details
are given in Markert (1996).
To decompose the plankton samples, 100 mg of
the dried sample were measured into quartz ves-
sels (30 ml) and mixed with 2 ml nitric acid. The
samples were then enclosed in a high-pressureasher (HPA) after KNAPP in Markert (1996).
Tri-distilled water was added to the decomposi-
tion solutions to make a final volume of 50 ml
(Marker& 1996).
The quality of the heavy-metal analysis was
controlled by independent methods (TXRF andICP/MS) and by using standard reference mate-
rials (NIST 1643~ and BCR/CRM 414).
The phytoplankton wa s counted using an in-
verted Hydro-Bios microscope. The diversity in-
dex was calculated by the Shannon-Weaver
method. Crustaceans, rotifers and ciliates were
counted in Bogorov-chambers with an inverted
microscope at a 40 X and 100 X magnification, re-
spectively. The abundance of the large, coloured
ciliates of the genus Stentor w as determined in
parallel with the rotifers. Furthermore, Stentor
was counted on the filters (5 m and 40 m) accord-ing to WSlfl (1995). The determination of the
biomass of ciliates, rotifers and crustaceans fol-
lows the methodology given in detail by Wijlfl
(1995).
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Water temperature
On the sampling days the lakes showed awater-temperature profile typical of the beginning
of the stratification period (Fig. 2). Lakes Gutier-
rez and Nahuel Huapi showed the smallest dif-
ference between surface and deeper waters, while
the Catedral arm of Lake Mascardi exhibited
stratification with the thermocline between 12
and 28 m. Other physical characteristics (pH,conductivity, transparency, depth, geochemical
composition) are given in Tables 2 and 3.
4.2. Quality control
4.2.1. By use of standard reference materials
A comparison of measured and certified values
for the standard reference materials investigated
is given in Table 4.
4.2.2. By comparison of different analytical methods
Figure 3 shows the relationship between stan-
dard and TXRF methods applied to the analysis
of K, Ca and S. Although the replication is low,
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h B. Markert et al. / The Science of the Total EnvironrPtent 206 (1997) l-15
Table 2Physical and chemical characteristics of the surface water of Andean-Patagonian lakes
Lake Date Time PH Conductivity
($4 cm-‘)
Transparency
Cm)
Depth (m) insampling site
Nahuel Huapi 26 November 1993 10.00 h 7.01a 30 15 307Gutierrez 25 November 1993 19.30 h 7.48 47 13 100
Mascardi (Catedral arm) 25 November 1993 10.00 h 7.37 43 15 300Mascardi (Tronador arm) 25 November 1993 13.30 h 7.39 42 4 90
a At 5-m depth.
the fit is good for Ca and S, while it is rather poor
for K. The microtitration method used to esti-
mate calcium seems to be very effective at the
low levels typically found in Andean-Patagonian
waters. For sulphates the turbidimetry method
with barium chloride is reliable up to approxi-
mately 1 mg SOi- 1-i. The concentration of
sulphates in Andean-Patagonian waters is close
to the detection limit; the fit against TXRF was
therefore lower than for calcium. For potassium
the figure shows a very slight gradient, suggesting
that flame photometry is unsuitable for the very
low concentrations characteristic of Andean-
Patagonian lakes. It is quite apparent that the
TXRF method increases the sensitivity and dis-
criminating power of the analysis.
4.3. Comparison of the element concentrations in
relation to water depth
Table 5 summarizes the results of the chemical
measurements obtained by standard methods
(API-IA, 1985) and Table 6 the multielemental
composition ascertained by TXRF and ICP.
In Lake Nahuel Huapi, neither of the methodsrevealed differences between the two depths. The
only exception wa s the iron content determined
by TXRF, which wa s higher at 40 m than at 5 m.
The sample taken from a polluted site showed a
significantly higher concentration of Fe and Zn
than those from unpolluted sites. This may be
due to the input of contaminants from Bariloche
City.
Table 3Main elementary composition (%) of rocks from Nahuel Huapi, Mascardi and Gutierrez lakes
LakesRocks
Gutierrez + Mascardi + Nahuel Huapia
Plutonic Metamorphic
Grandodioritic Amphibolites
Nahuel HuapibPyroclastic tuffs
Nahuel HuapibVolcanic basalts,andesites, dacites
SiO,TiO,
%03
FeAFe0
MnO
NOCaO
NazW
pzos
67.57-70.48 52.67-59.86 62.66-74.96 49.86-69.430.43-0.89 0.46-0.87 0.17-0.90 0.41-1.17
14.85-16.22 17.05-18.85 12.21-17.57 14.49-18.06
3.62-4.99 7.34-9.81 0.67-3.02 1.80-5.730.28-0.95 4.03-5.25 0.07-2.04 0.71-3.90
3.01-4.03 0.13-0.20 0.02-0.22 0.12-0.19
0.03-0.086 3.53-5.22 0.34-1.17 0.52-5.361.06-1.49 7.21-9.79 0.45-2.60 1.19-7.994.21-5.5 2.78-3.84 1.90-5.45 3.14-3.91
1.98-2.76 0.31-0.76 0.45-4.75 0.84-3.880.11-0.19 0.10-0.19 0.02-0.10 0.05-0.25
a Data from Dalla Salda et al. (1991).
b Data f rom Spaletti et al. (1982).
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B. Markert et al. / The Scie nce of the Tot al Environment 206 (1997) I-15 7
Table 4
Comparison of measured and certified values of the standardreference materials analyzed
NET ICP/MS TXRF BCR/CRM ICP/MS1643~ 414a
As 82.1 81.6 86.7 6.82 6.88
Ca - - (65000) 68420
Cd 12.2 12.8 0.383 0.347
co 23.5 24.1 26.4 (1.43) 1.48
Cr 19 17.8 17.2 23.8 2.5
CU 22.3 22.8 23.2 29.5 28.8
Fe 106.9 - 105.6 185 0 1853
Mn 35.1 33.8 36.3 299 272
Ni 60.6 62.8 60.7 18.8 19.7Pb 35.3 35.9 36.5 3.97 3.3
Sr - - - 261 250
Zn 73.9 79.5 82.5 112 105
a Was not measured by TXRF.Values are given in pg g-’ (ppm) for BCR/CRM 414 on a
dry wt. basis and in pg 1-i (ppb) for NIST 1643~.Figures in brackets give indicative values (not certified).
The TXRF analysis of Lake Gutierrez (Table
6) showed differences between 5 m and 40 m forsulphur only (10% higher at 5 m). This result
coincides with the difference ascertained by tur-
bidimetry (Table 5). The TXRF analysis produced
similar values at both depths for potassium, but
flame photometry revealed a difference of 67%.
This is probably an error of the flame method
resulting from the low K content of the lake
water. For magnesium, the titration method
showed a difference of 30% between the two
depths. However, since the concentration of most
elements is similar at both depths, the differencein magnesium content is more likely to be artifi-
cial.
In the Catedral arm of Lake Mascardi the
differences in ion content in terms of percentages
were greater at 40 m than at 5 m, with the
exception of Si and K. The differences are: HCO,,
8%; Ca, 15%; SO,, 22%; Na, 44% and Mg, 240%.
Such differences were also detected by TXRF: S,
88%; K, 114%; Ca, 101% and Sr, 98%, althoughthe reason for the different concentration at these
depths is not clear. The possibility of sample
contamination can be rejected, since we used
different glassware for each method. The TXRF
K WV’) .450
'400 -- . .
350 --
300 -- l . l . .
250 --
. 200 --
150
10050 y = 0.0842x+ 320.35
0R'= 0.0112
/
0 100 200 300 400 500
TXRF
W9000 T
Ca (pg.f’)
6000J, .
0 2000 4000 6000 6000 10000
TXRF
s bK3.1”)
0 500 1000 1500 2000
S(TXRF)
Fig. 3. Comparison of the results for S, Ca and K between
standard methods (APHA, 1985) and TXRF.
method seems to bring an improvement in the
detection level and supports the results obtained
by standard methods. The different concentrationat the two depths may be explained by the dilu-
tion of surface waters caused by the input of rain
and melted snow. The beginning of the stratifica-
tion period prevents mixing with epilimnetic wa-
ters.
In the Tronador arm of Lake Mascardi theconcentrations ascertained by the TXRF method
were higher at 5 m than at 40 m (Table 6) for S,
33%; Fe, 33%; Zn, 33%; K, 38%; Ca, 36% and
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8 B. Markert et al. / The Sci ence of the Tota l Environment 206 (1997) l-15
Table 5Major ion concentration (PM) of Andean-Patagonian lakes analyzed by standard methods (APHA, 1985)
Lake Depth SiO, Na+ K+ Mg2+ Ca2+ HCO,- CI- SO,2-- Sum Z+ Sum A-
(m)
Nahuel Huapi 5 169.17 69.60 7.67 28.80 72.36 93.44 14.10 12.50 279.58 132.55
40 158.67 69.60 7.67 28.80 74.85 90.16 12.50 284.57 115.16Difference % (40 m/S m) -6 0 0 0 3 -4 0
Gutierrez 5 186.00 69.60 7.67 41.14 182.14 250.82 27.08 523.83 304.99
40 184.30 82.65 12.79 53.49 194.61 236.07 30.21 591.63 296.48Difference % (40 m/5 m) -1 19 67 30 7 -6 10
Mascardi (Catedral arm) 5 159.83 39.15 7.67 20.57 117.27 157.38 20.03 21.88 322.50 221.1540 160.33 56.55 7.67 69.94 134.73 170.49 28.13 473.57 226.74
Difference % (40 m/5 m) 0 44 0 240 15 8 22Mascardi (Tronador arm) 5 164.27 60.90 10.23 32.92 137.23 150.82 14.02 30.21 411.41 225.25
40 169.10 60.90 10.23 28.80 144.71 155.74 30.21 418.15 216.15Difference % (40 m/5 m) 3 0 0 -13 5 3 0
Patagonian lake (average) 168.96 63.62 8.95 38.06 132.24 163.11 16.05 24.09
Freshwater world averagea 200.00 273.91 58.83 168.69 374.25 960.66 220.01 116.67 1419 1414
a From Livingstone (1963) in Home and Goldman (1994).
Sr, 38%. On the other hand, standard methods
(Table 5) only showed differences in Mg concen-
tration (12% higher at 5 m). The Upper MansoRiver influences the upper layer of the Tronador
arm, as is apparent from the higher sulphur, iron
and calcium contents. The Upper Manso Riverconveys a considerable amount of dissolved salts
and suspended particles from the Tronador
glacier.
4.4. Transparency, chlorophyll and nutrients
Water transparency was high (13-15 m); thiswas to be expected in view of the low chlorophyll
content, which ranged from 0.10 to 0.24 mg rne3.
Only in the Tronador arm of Lake Mascardi was
the transparency relatively low (4 m) due to the
influence of suspended solids from the UpperManso River. All forms of measured nutrient
concentrations were very low too (Table 71, andwithin the range for oligotrophic or ultra-
oligotrophic lakes of the northern hemisphere
according to the OECD (1982).
The DIN/TP ratio was higher (Table 8) in
Lake Nahuel Huapi (6.8-9.9) than in Lake
Gutierrez (1.2-5.0) and in the two arms of Lake
Mascardi (0.6-1.9). This correlates with the higher
percentage of Cyanophytes in Lake Mascardi(mainly in the Tronador arm) and Lake Gutierrez
(Table 9). Cyanophytes are better competitors
under conditions of low N/P ratios, i.e. below 7:l
(Smith, 1983).
The Fe/SRP ratio ranged between 0.6-1.8 in
Nahuel Huapi, 2.2-3.0 in Lake Gutierrez and 4.2
in the Catedral arm of Lake Mascardi (Table 8).
In the Tronador arm of Lake Mascardi the
Fe/SRP ratio was noticeably higher (11.3-14.3).
The main tributary of Lake Mascardi is the Up-
per Manso River, which discharges into the Tro-nador arm and brings in a heavy load of glacial
sediment rich in Fe and S. The influence of this
input is apparent in the sulphur concentration ofthe Tronador arm, which is similar to that of the
Upper Manso River but about twice that of the
Catedral arm. It has been suggested (Brand, 1991)
that the Fe/PO, ratio of the nutrient inputs
influences the ratio of procaryotes to eucaryotes
in marine phytoplankton communities, with high
Fe/PO, ratios favouring procaryote growth. The
cyanophyte density in the Tronador arm of Lake
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B. Markert et al. /The Science of the Total Environment 206 (1997) 1-15 9
ty \4 cl T’. v? 0: A-0 r\13 ,-I3 do0 d
V V vv vvv V
vv vv vv vvv V
r?cr Nr? r‘rc - r?- N00 00 00 000 6vv vv vv vvv V
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10 B. Markert et al. / The Sc ienc e of the Tota l Environment 206 (1997) l-15
Mascardi was higher than in the Catedral arm;
this coincided with a high Fe/SRP ratio and thelow N/P ratio mentioned above.
4.5. Chemical classi@ation of the lakes investigated
Table 2 shows that the lake waters have a
neutral or slightly alkaline pH (7.01-7.48) as the
vast majority of Andean-Patagonian lakes aroundBariloche (Pedrozo et al., 1993). Table 3 gives the
main elementary composition (%) of rocks from
Nahuel Huapi, Mascardi and Gutierrez lakes. The
waters are very dilute solutions (conductivitybetween 30 and 46.6 $S cm-‘) dominated by
calcium, bicarbonates and dissolved silica. The
ionic composition is largely below the world aver-age given by Livingstone (19631, in: Horne and
Goldman (1994). The relative significance ( peq
1-l ) of the major cations and ions is:
Ca2+ > Mg2+ > < Naf > K+
and
HCO, > SO;- > Cl-
Major ions show an excess of cations in the
charge balance, ranging from 19 to 36%. These
percentage differences were calculated accordingto Lesack et al. (1984) as:
This ionic imbalance cannot be explained bythe SiO, concentration because silicates are ion-
ized as H,SiO; at high pH values (Drever, 1982).
Dissolved silica is below the world average (Table
7). These features of Andean-Patagonian lakes
can be attributed to the dominant igneous rock
(Pedrozo et al., 1993).
The Andean-Patagonian lake water (LWP,,,)
showed concentrations of Cr, Sr, Zn, Cu, Co and
Table 7
Mean element composition ( pg 1-l) of Andean-Patagonian lakes compared with ‘reference freshwater’, world average freshwaterand Lake Constance
As Ca Cd Cl co Cr CU Fe K Mg
Patagonian lakes (avg> nd-< 1.2 5298 < 0.2 569 < 0.2 < l- < 2 < 0.5-2.6 18.8 361 925
Reference freshwater(Markert, 1994) 0.5 2000 0.2 8000 0.5 1 3 500 2000 4000
Fresh water world average(Margalef, 1983) 1.7-3.0 0.2-0.5 0.02-0.6 0.1-1.4 0.83-15
O-10 o-2 5600 6.3-60 1.5-33(Livingstone, 1963) 15 000 7800 0.8 10 - 40 2300 4100
Lake Constance(Sigg, 1985) 0.005-0.01
0.32-0.95
Table 7 (Continued)
Mn Na Ni P Pb S Si Sr Zn
Patagonian lakes (avgl <l-<4 1463 < 0.5- < 1 8 nd- < 2.2 1063 4731 18 2.9
Reference freshwater(Markert, 1994) 5 5000 0.3 20 3 4000 4000 50 5
Fresh water world average(Margalef, 1983) O-10 o-2 5600 6.3-60 1.5-33(Livingstone, 1963) 35 6300 5973 6000 10
Lake Constance
(Sigg, 1985) 0.04-0.010 0.65-1.96
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B. Markert et al. / The Sci ence of the Tot al Environment 206 (1997) l-15
Table 8
Nutrient and chlorophyll concentrations in Patagonian lakes
11
Lake Depth NNO, + NNO, NNHh+
(m) CpgNl-‘1 (,qNl-l) :gPI-‘1 :;;P1-‘) $gFel-‘)DIN/TX’ Fe/SRP Chlorophyll aa
(mgCh1 a rnm3)___~-__
Nahuel Huapi 5 29 20 5 3 3 9.9 1.1 0.12
40 9 25 5 3 8 6.8 3.2
Gutierrez 5 43 8 10 3 10 5.0 3.9 0.2440 9 10 15 2 11 1.2 5.4
Mascardi 5 2 6 5 1 1.4 0.10
(Catedral arm) 40 2 3 7 2 13 0.6 7.6
Mascardi 5 3 8 7 2 52 1.4 25.8 0.14
(Tronador arm) 40 8 9 9 2 35 1.9 20.3
a Taken at 0.5 m.
Pb (Table 7) that were of the same order as the similar phytoplankton biomass (134 mg mw3), but
freshwater world average (FWW,,) given by Mar- the densities were very different (1136 cells ml-’
galef (1983). The remaining elements fall below in the Tronador arm and 288 cells ml-’ in the
or are around the limit for the FWW,,. It is Catedral arm>. Lakes Gutierrez and Nahuel Huapisurprising that the Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd levels in also showed a higher biomass level (N 300 mgAndean-Patagonian lakes are similar to or higher rne3) than Lake Mascardi, but the density was
than those given by Sigg (1985) for Lake Con- very different (2256 and 170 cells ml-‘, respec-
stance, that receives far more contaminants. tively). Chlorophyceae and Prymnesiophyceae
However, as far as these heavy metals are groups dominated in density in the Tronador arm,
concerned, the waters of the Andean- but their contribution to the total biomass was
Patagonian lakes and those of Lake Constance low. Dinophyceae wa s the dominant group in the
were close to the lower range of FWW,,. The Fe biomass (54%). The Catedral arm was dominated
and Ca concentrations in ‘reference freshwater’ by Cyanophyceae and Prymnesiophyceae in re-
(REFW) are the only two that differ greatly from spect of density, but the group that contributedthe FFWaVg given by Horne and Goldman (1994). most to the biomass was Dinophyceae (60%).
It is instructive to look at the difference between Bacillariophyceae were dominant both in density
the average lake-water composition of and biomass in Lake Nahuel Huapi and were
Andean-Patagonian waterbodies (LWP& and absent from the Tronador arm of Lake Mascardi.
REFW (Markert, 1994). With the exception of Lake Gutierrez showed Cyanophyceae to be the
calcium, which is twice as high as in REFW, the dominant group in terms of density, but the most
element concentrations (S, Fe, Mg, Na, K and Sr) significant group in respect of biomass was Dino-are lower than in REFW. phyceae (51%).
4.6. Phytoplankton composition 4.7. Zooplankton composition
Phytoplankton density ranged from 170 to 2256
cells ml-‘, while phytoplankton biomass ranged
from 134 to 312 mg m -3 (Table 9). The greatestdivergence (H= 3.23) was ascertained for the
Catedral arm of Lake Mascardi, and the lowest
value (H = 0.78) was estimated for Lake Gutier-
rez. The two arms of Lake Mascardi showed
Zooplankton, including crustaceans, rotifers
and large ciliates, from Lake Mascardi (‘Trona-
dor’, ‘Catedral’) and Lake Gutierrez were countedquantitatively. Due to the filtering procedures,
densities of rotifers and ciliates were most
probably underestimated.
The zooplankton diversity (crustaceans, rotifers)
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B. Markert et al. / The Sci ence of the Tot al Environment 206 (1997) 1-15 13
Table 10
Zooplankton of Lakes Mascardi, Gutierrez and Nahuel Huapi
Species
Nauplia (calanoid)Boeckella gracilipes
Cl-C5
MaleMesocyclops longisetus
Cl-C.5
Male
Bosmina sp.
Rotifera
Stentor araucanusStentor amethstinus
Total
Stentor sp. on filters
5 m: Stentor araucanus
5 m: Stentor amethystinus
40 m: Stentor araucanus
40 m: Stentor amethystinus
Mascardi Tronador
D B
3.1150 0.6230
0.1580 0.0670
0.0380 0.0050
0.0130 0.00190.0130 0.0077
0.0150 0.01600.2500 0.0035
3.6000 0.72
6 0.45002 0.1500
Mascardi Catedral
D B
0.8380 0.1620
0.0026 0.0042
0.0013 0.0018
0.0013 0.0017
0.0013 0.00131.5100 0.0021
2.35 0.17
16 1.2000
Gutierrez
D
0.200
0.5200.700
241944.42
15073
3
B
0.040
0.5200.008
1.8001.4203.79
11.2505.4700
0.2200
Notes: D, density (cells ml-‘); B, biomass (mg mm3).
in Lake Mascardi and Lake Gutierrez was low,
which is typical for oligotrophic north Patagonianlakes (Wiilfl, 1995). Whereas in Lake Mascardi
only calanoid (Boeckellu grucilipes) and one cy-
clopoid copepod (Mesocyclops longisetus) were
registered. In Lake Gutierrez only calanoid nau-
plia were found. In both lakes, Bosmina repre-
sented the only cladoceran species. The most
important rotifers in Lake Mascardi were Ker-
atella cochlearis, Polyatihra sp., Ascomo?pha sp.,
Collotheca pelagica, Trichocerca pocillum, Lecane
luna, Synchaeta sp. and Keratella cochlearis, Pol-
yurthra sp. in Lake Gutierrez, respectively.
The zooplankton community of the two sam-
pling stations of Lake Mascardi were quite similar
in species composition, densities (2.35, 3.60 Ind
1-i) and biomass (0.72-0.17 pg C 1-l). The den-
sity and biomass of crustaceans and rotifers in
Lake Gutierrez fall in the same range as those in
Lake Mascardi. In contrast to Lake Mascardi, the
zooplankton community in Lake Gutierrez wasdominated by high abundance and biomass of
Chlorella-bearing, large ciliates (Stentor aruu-
canus, S. amethystinus). Stentor is a common in-
habitant of many (ultra)oligotrophic, north Patag-
onian lakes reaching a high proportion of zoo-
plankton biomass (Wolf?, 1995; Geller et al., 1996).In Lake Gutierrez, Stentor amounted for 3.22 pg
C L-’ or 85% of total zooplankton biomass. This
value, calculated from net samples, probably un-
derestimated the biomass of Stentor. The densi-
ties of the ciliate concentrated on filter are about
five times higher than the net samples (Table 10).
In comparison with Lake Mascardi, the zooplank-
ton biomass in Lake Gutierrez was approximately5-20 times higher. As the filter samples from
Lake Mascardi show, Stentor was present in this
lake in small concentrations, too. It is likely, that
Stentor is an important component of the zoo-plankton community of the lake.
4.8. Chemical composition of the phytoplankton and
zooplankton
Table 11 summarizes the element concentra-
tions in the phytoplankton and zooplankton ofLake Mascardi at two different sites (Catedral
and Tronador). It is noticeable that in all cases
the phytoplankton shows greater accumulations
of the minerals potassium and calcium and the
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14 B. Markert et al. / The Sci ence of the Tota l Environment 206 (1997) 1-15
Table 11
Element content of phytoplankton and zooplankton (P and Z) in Lake Mascardi at two different sites in mg kg-’ dry wt.
Sample As Ca CU Fe K Mn Pb S Sr
M. Tronador PM. Tronador Z
Ratio P/Z
M. Catedral P
M. Catedral ZRatio P/Z.-__
7.9 1194.0 20.4 3807.27.8 392.0 2.0 291.2
1.0 3.0 10.2 13.1
7.3 933.0 29.8 741.2
7.4 88.0 1.7 69.21.0 10.6 17.5 10.7
essential trace elements (manganese, iron, copper
and zinc) than the zooplankton. An exception is
sulphur, that occurs in greater concentrations in
zooplankton. The reason would seem to be the
higher protein content of the zooplankton. In the
case of the non-essential elements that are toxic
at higher concentrations (arsenic and lead) it is
noticeable that the levels are more or less similar
for phytoplankton and zooplankton. This indi-
cates that these substances are mainly taken uppassively from the stream of water and deposited
in the cell bodies of the individual organisms. In
general it can be said that the organisms acctmm-
late all the elements loo-fold to lOOO-fold inrelation to the surrounding medium (see Table 6).
5. Conclusion
These first results on biological and chemical
compositions clearly reflect the oligotrophic to
ultra-oligotrophic status of the Argentinean lakes.
These lake systems can be used as ‘reference’ or‘baseline’ systems for further comparative studies
of more polluted lakes, especially in the northern
hemisphere.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Mr Pablo Gonzalez and Mr
Walter Lopez for their help in collecting thesamples and Lit. Pedro Temporetti, Bioq. Lucia
Resseli and Lit. Patricia Satti for the laboratory
analyses. M. Mages and C. Hoffmeister per-
formed the TXRF and ICP-MS measurements,respectively. Mrs Marion Brasse, Buchholz,
F.R.G., is thanked for polishing the English of themanuscript.
-
455.5 145.6 61.7 158.5 7.5198.5 14.0 64.7 221.5 2.6
2.3 10.4 1.0 0.7 2.9
293.5 30.6 49.7 230.5 5.074.5 4.7 66.7 1232.5 0.6
3.9 6.5 0.7 0.2 9.0
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