Mixing of Rhône River in Lake Geneva

Collecting samples (© Benjamin Lehmann)

The project in a nutshell

In the context of its re-oligotrophication, Lake Geneva is experiencing an intense decrease of nutrients concentration. However, high primary production is still measured. It seems thus relevant to determine (i) which nutrients are coming from the river inputs, (ii) where they are transported and (iii) how they are metabolized.

This study focuses on the Rhône River, the principal tributary to Lake Geneva, both in terms of water discharge and sediment load. In this project, a submerged pump coupled to a refrigerated autosampler were installed on the platform during September and October 2019. It was continuously pumping lake water at 18 meters depth where the Rhône River interflow was previously detected at this season. With the 120 samples collected over this period, we aim at studying the temporal nutrient dynamic of the lake and the eventual influence of the Rhône River interflow.

Team members

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