The effect of typhoon induced rainfall on settling fluxes of particles and organic carbon in Yuanyang Lake, subtropical Taiwan

Abstract A sediment-trap monitoring program measured the fluxes of settling particles and organic carbon in Yuanyang Lake, northern Taiwan, from July 2004 to July 2006 and assessed their relations to the amounts of normal monthly and typhoon-event precipitation. The flux of settling particles varied from 0.7 mg cm −2  month −1 to 14.7 mg cm −2  month −1 , and the monthly precipitation ranged from 56 mm to 1218 mm during the survey period. The contributions from typhoon-event precipitation to monthly rainfall amounts were generally larger than 70%. Higher inputs of both particulate and organic carbon into the lake were found during typhoon seasons. Of the annual settling particle loading of 14.9 tons year −1 to the lake floor, 69% occurred during the typhoon months, and 62% of the annual organic carbon loading of 2.3 tons year −1 happened during the typhoon months. These results show the importance of typhoon events on the fluxes of settling particles and organic carbon and their delivery to lakes.