Dissolved silicate retention and transport in cascade reservoirs in Karst area, Southwest China Original Research Article

Presently, the fluvial fluxes of Dissolved silicate (DSi) by many famous rivers in the world have been reported significantly decreased in the past several decades. DSi retention by river damming hence becomes a great concern. In this study, the impact on DSi retention and transport by cascade reservoirs in the Karst area were investigated. Based on the monitoring data for four seasons, budget of DSi in these reservoirs were calculated. Results showed that, only the downstream eutrophic Wujiangdu reservoir (WJD) was the sink for DSi, with a value of ca. 3.5 kT DSi trapped annually. The new Hongjiadu reservoir (HJD) in the headwater area revealed to be an important source for DSi. Both Dongfeng (DF) and Suofengyin (SFY) reservoirs also released more DSi to the downstream than entering them. The great discrepancy of DSi source and sink effects among these reservoirs indicates that, (i) DSi was obviously taken up in summer and spring, and the concentration of DSi could be dropped down to below 30 μΜ; (ii) during the period of thermal stratification, the concentration stratification of DSi is also developed along the water column. Possibly DSi releasing from inundation soil and bottom sediment was the important compensation for the silicon depletion in the epilimnion. In the newly constructed reservoirs (e.g. HJD and SFY), the releasing flux of DSi can significantly exceed the assimilating flux by diatom; and (iii) due to the hypolimnion introducing for hydropower operation, water leaving the dam generally had high DSi content, and then masked the DSi taking up in the epilimnion. This process also decreased the ratio of DIN to DSi, mitigating the silicon limiting situation in the downstream.