Monitoring of Sediment Quality and Nutrients Dynamics of Lake Uluabat, Turkey *

Lake Uluabat, as being an important RAMSAR site, is located in Marmara Region, Turkey. Lake is one of Turkey's rich shallow lakes in terms of aquatic plants, fish and birds. The wetlands of Lake Uluabat and its catchments face a number of problems and threats which could make these valuable resources change or degrade. Human activities, both direct and indirect, are great contributors to degradation and loss of Lake Uluabat wetlands and its water quality. There is no law or regulations about sediment quality assessment and protection works in Lake Uluabat. The objective of this research is to evaluate the sediment quality and nutrients dynamics of Lake Uluabat. For this purpose pH, electrical conductivity, total nitrogen, hydrolysable total nitrogen, total phosphorus, available phosphorus, organic carbon parameters, anions (Cl , CO3 = , CaCO3) and cations (Ca ++ , Mg ++ , Na + , K + ) of the sediment were analysed at five stations which are close to urban/industrial locations, inlet/outflow points of lake and drain point of Mustafakemalpasa Creek. The obtained results have shown that alkaline conditions are dominant in Lake Uluabat. The results of this study are to guide for sediment quality monitoring and assessment studies for Lake Uluabat and for further studies.