Characterization of dissolved organic matter fractions from Lake Hongfeng, Southwestern China Plateau

With XAD-series and ion exchange resins, dissolved organic matter (DOM) from Lake Hongfeng in Southwestern China Plateau was isolated into 6 fractions, i.e., humic acid (HA), fulvic acid (FA), hydrophobic neutrals (HON), hydrophilic acids (HIA), hydrophilic bases (HIB) and hydrophilic neutrals (HIN). Those fractions were characterized by high performance size exclusion chromatography, fluorescence spectroscopy and UV absorbance. Among the 6 fractions, FA was predominant and accounted for 51% of the total DOM. The weight-average (Mw) and number-averaged (Mn) molecular weight of these fractions ranged from 1688 to 2355 Da and from 1338 to 1928 Da, respectively. A strong correlation was observed between specific UV absorbance at 280 nm, E2/E3 (absorbance at 250 nm to 365 nm), and the molecular weight for DOM fractions. UV-Vis fulvic-like fluorescence peaks were found in all fractions. Protein-like fluorescence peaks existed in HON may indicate that microbial activity was severely in Lake Hongfeng. There was a significant relationship between fluorescence intensities and specific UV absorbance at 254 nm for those DOM fractions, suggesting their similar luminescence characteristics. The values of fluorescence index (f450/500) indicated that hydrophobic fractions may derive from terrestrial sources, and the hydrophilic fractions from microbial and terrestrial origins. Those results suggest that there were inter-relationships between molecular weight, fluorescence and absorbance characteristics, and also subtle consistencies between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties and the sources for these 6 fractions from Lake Hongfeng.