Seasonal variations in sulfur isotopic composition of dissolved SO42− in the Aha Lake,Guiyang and their implications

The Aha Lake is a seasonal anoxic water system in the southwest of Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, China. Seasonal variations in SO42- concentrations and their isotopic compositions in lake water as well as in the tributaries were investigated in this study. The results showed that sulfate concentrations in river water range from 0.94 to 6.52 mmol/L and their δ34S values range from -14.9‰ and 0.9‰, while lake water has sulfate concentrations ranging from 1.91 to 2.79 mmol/L, and δ34S values from -9.8‰ to -5.9‰. It is suggested that coal mining drainage is the major source of SO42- in the Aha Lake. Rainfall, sewage discharge, sulfide oxidation and gypsum dissolution have made only limited contributions. Different depth-dependent distributions of dissolved SO42- and δ34S were de-veloped for both DB and LJK in summer and winter. Due to water overturn, δ34S values display homogenous vertical distributions in winter and spring. While in summer and autumn, significant positive shifts of δ34S were clearly ob-served in epilimnion and bottom strata as a result of water stratification. High δ34S values in epilimnion may result from the retention of rainwater during water stratification. Dissimilatory sulfate reduction by bacteria was thought to be responsible for the increase of δ34S value in hypolimnion.