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Diffusive methane fluxes from Negro, Solimões and Madeira rivers and fringing lakes in the Amazon basin
Author(s) -
Barbosa Pedro M.,
Melack John M.,
Farjalla Vinicius F.,
Amaral João Henrique F.,
Scofield Vinicius,
Forsberg Bruce R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.1002/lno.10358
Subject(s) - tributary , hydrology (agriculture) , drainage basin , environmental science , amazon rainforest , methane , structural basin , main stem , geology , geomorphology , geography , ecology , cartography , geotechnical engineering , biology , horticulture
The first extensive set of measurements of methane concentrations and fluxes for the Negro River and its major tributaries combined with complementary data for the Solimões and Madeira rivers and several tributaries are presented and their temporal and spatial variations examined. Fluxes were measured using floating chambers, and dissolved CH 4 concentrations were measured by the headspace technique. In the Solimões basin, tributaries had higher fluxes when water levels were low; no statistical difference among periods for lakes and the main stem river was observed. In the Negro basin, rivers had higher fluxes with greater variations among rivers during high water than during low water based on fluxes calculated from the concentration gradient and modelled gas transfer coefficients. We estimate a regional methane emission of 0.31 Tg C yr −1 for large river channels in the lowland Amazon basin.