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Disproportionately high rates of sulfide oxidation from mountainous river basins of Taiwan orogeny: Sulfur isotope evidence
Author(s) -
Das Anirban,
Chung ChuanHsiung,
You ChenFeng
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2012gl051549
Subject(s) - weathering , drainage basin , sulfide , geology , geochemistry , sulfur , sulfate , structural basin , hydrology (agriculture) , erosion , pyrite , estuary , δ34s , orogeny , environmental science , earth science , geomorphology , oceanography , quartz , chemistry , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , fluid inclusions , geography , cartography
Sulfur isotopic tracing of river sulfate (SO 4 2− ) suggests that sulfide oxidation accounts for 85 ± 7% of the dissolved SO 4 2− in one of the largest river systems (the Kaoping) of the Taiwan orogeny in the high‐discharge season. This corresponds to a basin‐wide contribution of ∼1.2–1.6% of pyrite‐derived SO 4 2− exported by rivers globally, from a river basin, which is only ∼0.003% of the global drainage area. Intense rainfall, high relief and active tectonics all favor intense physical weathering of the Kaoping basin, which promotes continuous exposure of fresh (sulfide) mineral surfaces for oxidative weathering. This coupling between physical and chemical weathering sustains disproportionately high sulfide oxidation, ∼400 times relative to surface area, in the Kaoping basin.