Time dependence of organic matter decay and mixing processes in Framvaren, a permanently anoxic fjord in South Norway

Three different layers have been identified in Framvaren, which has a maximum water depth of 184 m. One oxic layer above the redoxcline at 18–20 m. One anoxic layer from 20 to 100 m which is occasionally ventilated by a flow over the sill (which has a depth of 2.5 m), and finally a stagnant layer below 100 m. Using the release rate of silica from the bottom and measurements of the concentration of HTO it is possible to make some calculations on the annual volume of interleaving in the layers 25–50 m, 50–75 m, and 75–100 m together with the advective flows. Reliable values of the sulfide concentration were obtained by precipitating and weighing HgS together with careful protection of all anoxic water samples with argon. The light yellow color of the precipitate in the depth range 25 to 80 m indicates that the occasional ventilation will cause such reactions as 0.50₂ + H₂S S(colloidal) + H₂O. The elemental sulfur, being stabilized with HS^–, is set free upon the precipitation of HgS. The new data for the concentration of sulfide give an acceptable stoichiometry for the decay reaction of organic matter. This is not the case with the data of Yao and Millero. The mean values for the concentrations of ammonium and phosphate agree with the new data of Yao and Millero. The mol/mol C/N ratio of 10.1 found in trapped material by Naess and coworkers (1988) agrees with the stoichiometry of the dissolved constituents, i.e. C/N = 9.92 ± 0.45. A denitrification reaction is suggested to explain the high values of C/N. The vertical diffusion coefficient at 100 m calculated from the depth profile of silica was 0.92 × 10^–6 m² s^–1 which lies in the range of values given by Fröyland. Finally, the ¹⁴C age of the total dissolved inorganic carbon (Ct) in the water below 90 m was about 1600 years indicating a bioproduction in the period 8000 years B.P. to A.D. 1853 when a channel was opened between the fjord outside (Helvikfjord) and Framvaren.