Non-point source contribution and dynamics of soluble and particulate phosphorus from main tributaries of the Zarivar Lake watershed, Iran

The temporal variability of phosphorus (P) transport and the relationships between discharge, suspended sediment concentration and particulate (PP), and soluble (SP) phosphorus were examined. The study was conducted at the event scale in seven tributaries of the Zarivar Lake watershed in Kurdistan Province (Iran) from March 2011 to April 2012. Based on eight runoff events, 82% of the total P was the PP carried out by suspended sediment. Results showed a high variability of P transport during different runoff events. It was found that soil erosion was the source of the high P load. For all tributaries, PP was linearly related to both discharge and suspended sediment concentration. However, the relationships of SP and PP with discharge and suspended sediment concentration showed different hysteresis patterns. The relationship between PP and discharge was generally characterized by a clockwise pattern (i. e., lower part contribution of the sub- watersheds) but the patterns between SP and discharge were mainly anticlockwise (i.e., upper part contribution of the sub- watersheds or perhaps due to a subsurface flow contribution).