Inorganic Carbon Speciation and Fluxes in the Congo River

Wang, Zhaohui, Bienvenu, Dinga, Mann, Paul, Hoering, Katherine, Poulsen, John, Spencer, Robert and Holmes, Robert (2013) Inorganic Carbon Speciation and Fluxes in the Congo River. Geophysical Research Letters, 40 (3). pp. 511-516. ISSN 0094-8276

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Abstract

Seasonal variations in inorganic carbon chemistry and associated fluxes from the Congo River were investigated at Brazzaville-Kinshasa. Small seasonal variation in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) was found in contrast with discharge-correlated changes in pH, total alkalinity (TA), carbonate species, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). DIC was almost always greater than TA due to the importance of CO2*, the sum of dissolved CO2 and carbonic acid, as a result of low pH. Organic acids in DOC contributed 11–61% of TA and had a strong titration effect on water pH and carbonate speciation. The CO2* and bicarbonate fluxes accounted for ~57% and 43% of the DIC flux, respectively. Congo River surface water released CO2 at a rate of ~109 mol m−2 yr−1. The basin-wide DIC yield was ~8.84 × 104 mol km−2 yr−1. The discharge normalized DIC flux to the ocean amounted to 3.11 × 1011 mol yr−1. The DOC titration effect on the inorganic carbon system may also be important on a global scale for regulating carbon fluxes in rivers.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	inorganic carbon, carbon dioxide, carbon fluxes, pH, alkalinity, Congo River
Subjects:	C900 Others in Biological Sciences F100 Chemistry F700 Ocean Sciences F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences
Department:	Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Geography and Environmental Sciences
Depositing User:	Paul Mann
Date Deposited:	29 Jul 2013 13:53
Last Modified:	13 Oct 2019 00:33
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/13298

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