Organic Load Fuels The Cycle
Trophic Innovations
The Organic Load Cycle
Address The Organic Load
When organic matter builds up in the sediment, the sediment consumes oxygen. That rate is SOD. High SOD holds redox / ORP down and can keep internal loading running. Released phosphorus and ammonia fuel more growth, and that growth becomes more organic load. This is the organic load cycle.
Cycle Terms
Organic Load is accumulated organic matter in the sediment — leaves, dead plants, dead plankton, etc. Organic matter also exists in the water and in the food web. What has settled and built up on the bottom is where this cycle starts.
SOD is sediment oxygen demand. It is the rate at which sediment consumes oxygen through biological activity and chemical oxidation.
Redox/ORP is how oxidizing or reducing conditions are at the sediment-water interface. Higher values generally mean more oxidizing conditions. Lower values mean more reducing conditions.
Internal loading is the release of nutrients from the sediments into the water. These include phosphorus and nitrogen. The nitrogen is often released as ammonium.
In Balance
A water body that is in balance has stable oxygen, and phosphorus and ammonia stay in check. When SOD stays high, sediment redox / ORP stays low. Oxygen can become unstable. Phosphorus and ammonia keep coming from the bottom. That phosphorus fuels more growth. Elevated ammonia favors the wrong species of algae, and the water body does not stay in balance.
Locked In
A water body is locked in when oxygen demand keeps redox / ORP low often enough that internal loading becomes self-sustaining. When it is locked in, start by treating the organic load and SOD.
TryMarine
TryMarine lowers SOD, raises redox at the sediment-water interface, and slows internal loading — so the water body can maintain sufficient oxygen. This allows phosphorus and ammonia to stay in check.
Interrupt the organic load cycle.
