Pollutants and resources causing eutrophication in Sarıkum Lake

ABSTRACT Sarıkum Lake, which has the criteria of "International Wetland Area" of the Black Sea, was accepted as a "Nature Protection Area" in 1987, and the area around the Lake was declared as a Natural Site in 1991. Sarıkum Lake is exposed to domestic wastes from settlements around it and chemical substances used in agricultural areas. The lake's sea connection and the creeks that are the water source of the lake are dangerous for the lake. The lake is polluted due to nutrients from these sources, and the most importantly is faced with eutrophication of water quality problems. The study was planned to determine the pollution level of pollutants and their sources causing eutrophication in Sarıkum Lake, and how it affects the lake. Water samples taken from 7 different stations between November 2016 and July 2017 were analyzed and evaluated seasonally.For this purpose, annual mean values of some physico-chemical parameters measured in water samples taken from the surface were determined. These are pH 8.23, temperature 15.41°C, salinity 3.46 Psu, dissolved oxygen 3.7 mg/L, oxidation reduction potential 94.23 mV, total dissolved matter 1747.8 mg/L, conductivity 6553.41 μS/cm, ammonium nitrogen 0.045 mg/L, phosphate phosphorus 0.224 mg/L, silicon 1.918 mg/L, nitrite nitrogen 0.077 mg/L, nitrate nitrogen 1,130 mg/L, chlorophyll-a 4,513μg/L, total suspended solids 0.029 mg/L detergent 0.0449 mg/L, respectively. It was determined that the obtained data were the 5th and 7th stations with the highest amounts of pH, ammonium nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen, chlorophyll-a and anionic detergent quantities according to the '' 'Water Pollution Control Regulation and the Quality Criteria Regulations''.This shows that these two stations representing the Sarıkum Lake have improved from eutrophication to hypereutrophication. As a result of the study, it has been detected that the stations in Sarıkum Lake are exposed to agricultural and environmental pollutants. Key words: Eutrophication, physico-chemical, Sarıkum Lake, Sinop, Black Sea region