Volatile fatty and dissolved free amino acids in Organic Lake, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica

The distributions of volatile fatty acids (C1-C5) (VFAs) and dissolved free amino acids (DFAAs) in Organic Lake, a shallow hypersaline meromictic lake in the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, were determined during the winter and spring of 1987. The concentrations of the two VFAs detected, formic and acetic acid, were low (<10 μM) in the oxic upper waters of the lake, but increased dramatically (up to 250μM) beneath the oxycline. The distribution of DFAAs was similar, with a total concentration of 280μM in the anoxic water early in the study. The amino acids occurring at the highest concentrations were alanine, glutamic acid, leucine and valine. Total VFA concentrations in the anoxic zone increased during the study period, but the total amino acid concentration dropped significantly to 64 μM by the end of the study. The high concentrations beneath the oxycline were probably the result of bacterial utilisation of these substrates that was slow due to the high salinity and low temperature of the lake water. © 1994 Springer-Verlag.