Hydrological budget, carbon sources and biogeochemical processes in Lac Pavin (France): Constraints from δ18O of water and δ13C of dissolved inorganic carbon

Lac Pavin (French Massif Central) is a permanently stratified lake: the upper water layers (mixolimnion, from 0 to 60 m depth) are affected by seasonal overturns, whereas the bottom water layers (monimolimnion, from 60 to 90 m depth) remain isolated and are never mixed. Hence, they are capable of storing important quantities of dissolved gases, mainly CO2. With the aim of better constraining the water balance and of gaining new insights into the carbon cycle of Lac Pavin, an isotopic approach is used. The δ18OH2Oδ18OH2O profiles lead the authors to give a new evaluation of the evaporation flow rate (8 L s−1), and to propose and characterize two sub-surface springs. The sub-surface spring located at the bottom of the lake can be deduced from the 1% isotopic difference between the upper water layers (mean δ18OH2O value: −7.3‰) and the bottom water layers (δ18OH2O=-8.4‰). It is argued that this sub-surface spring has isotopic and chemical characteristics similar to those of the magmatic CO2-rich spring (i.e. Fontaine Goyon, δ18OH2O=-9.4‰), and we calculate its flow rate of 1.6 L s−1. The second sub-surface spring is located around 45 m depth, with a composition close to those of the water surface streams (δ18OH2O<-7.6‰).