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- Title
Flux and age of dissolved organic carbon exported to the Arctic Ocean: A carbon isotopic study of the five largest arctic rivers.
- Authors
Raymond, Peter A.; McCleland, J. W.; Holmes, R. M.; Zhulidov, A. V.; Mull, K.; Peterson, B. J.; Striegl, R. G.; Aiken, G. R.; Gurtovaya, T. Y.
- Abstract
The export and Δ14C-age of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was determined for the Yenisey, Lena, Ob', Mackenzie, and Yukon rivers for 2004-2005. Concentrations of DOC elevate significantly with increasing discharge in these rivers, causing approximately 60% of the annual export to occur during a 2-month period following spring ice breakup. We present a total annual flux from the five rivers of 16 teragrams (Tg), and conservatively estimate that the total input of DOC to the Arctic Ocean is 25-36 Tg, which is ~5-20% greater than previous fluxes. These fluxes are also ~2.5 x greater than temperate rivers with similar watershed sizes and water discharge. Δ14C-DOC shows a clear relationship with hydrology. A small pool of DOC slightly depleted in Δ14C is exported with base flow. The large pool extorted with spring thaw is enriched in Δ14C with respect to current-day atmospheric Δ14C-CO2 values. A simple model predicts that ~50% of DOC exported during the arctic spring thaw is 1-5 years old, ~25% is 6-10 years in age, and 15% is 11-20 years old. The dominant spring melt period, a historically undersampled period, exports a large amount of young and presumably semilabile DOC to the Arctic Ocean.
- Subjects
ARCTIC Ocean; GROUNDWATER flow; INTERNATIONAL trade; AEROSOLS; ATOMIZATION; FLUID dynamics; SALINE waters; LEACHING; SEAWATER
- Publication
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2007, Vol 21, Issue 4, p1
- ISSN
0886-6236
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2007GB002934