Lake George (LG) is a temperate, oligotrophic, medium-sized lake (114 km²) located in northeastern New York State (U.S.). Lakes are highly understudied environments where extensive dissolved organic matter (DOM) processing occurs. With this study we establish the foundation for researching the organic biogeochemistry of the LG watershed, in particular, the numerous tributaries flowing into the lake. Collected were 213 samples from 64 tributaries and 12 lake locations. Some of the tributaries had unique wastewater, agricultural, or wetland influences. We employed fluorescence spectroscopy, a common biogeochemical technique, to characterize the fluorescent DOM (FDOM) component. We developed a parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) model for the deconvolution of FDOM data allowing to depict six underlying FDOM constituents, which varied in source and biogeochemical reactivity on spatiotemporal scales. Tributary DOM, in comparison to lake DOM, was much more aromatic, of larger molecular weight, more humic, and contained less protein-like material. The distribution of humic and protein-like PARAFAC components was impacted by land-use and wastewater influences. Supporting characterization of the chromophoric DOM (CDOM) and total DOM (on dissolved organic carbon basis) allowed differentiating the influence of wetlands, which could not be depicted by spatiotemporally assessing the variability of PARAFAC components. Temporal assessment revealed minor variabilities in tributary DOM quantity and quality except in cases of point sources such as wastewater treatment facilities. Overall, this primer study establishes baseline understanding of the baseflow levels of DOM constituents in the LG watershed, and more broadly, presents a PARAFAC model for the deconvolution of fluorescence spectra of DOM from temperate and oligotrophic lake watersheds such as LG.

乔治湖 (LG) 是一个温带贫营养中型湖泊（114 公里 ² ），位于美国纽约州东北部。湖泊是一种被充分研究的环境，其中发生大量溶解有机物 (DOM) 处理。通过这项研究，我们为研究 LG 流域的有机生物地球化学奠定了基础，特别是流入该湖的众多支流。收集了来自 64 条支流和 12 个湖泊地点的 213 个样本。一些支流具有独特的废水、农业或湿地影响。我们采用荧光光谱法（一种常见的生物地球化学技术）来表征荧光 DOM (FDOM) 成分。我们开发了一个用于 FDOM 数据反卷积的并行因子分析 (PARAFAC) 模型，可以描述六种潜在的 FDOM 成分，这些成分在时空尺度上的来源和生物地球化学反应性有所不同。与湖DOM相比，支流DOM的芳香性更强，分子量更大，腐殖质含量更高，并且含有更少的类蛋白质物质。腐殖质和类蛋白质 PARAFAC 成分的分布受到土地利用和废水的影响。支持发色 DOM (CDOM) 和总 DOM（基于溶解有机碳）的表征可以区分湿地的影响，而湿地的影响无法通过时空评估 PARAFAC 成分的变异性来描述。时间评估显示，除废水处理设施等点源外，支流 DOM 的数量和质量存在微小变化。 总体而言，这项引物研究建立了对 LG 流域 DOM 成分基流水平的基线了解，更广泛地说，提出了一个 PARAFAC 模型，用于对来自温带和寡营养湖泊流域（例如 LG）的 DOM 荧光光谱进行反卷积。