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Methane in surface waters of Oregon estuaries and rivers 1
Author(s) -
de Angelis Marie A.,
Lilley Marvin D.
Publication year - 1987
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 - 10.4319/lo.1987.32.3.0716
Subject(s) - estuary , methane , environmental science , surface runoff , hydrology (agriculture) , streams , atmosphere (unit) , seawater , soil water , surface water , pollution , environmental chemistry , oceanography , geology , ecology , chemistry , soil science , environmental engineering , geography , biology , meteorology , computer science , computer network , geotechnical engineering
Methane concentrations in surface waters of Oregon rivers and estuaries were measured over a 4‐yr period. Geographic variations in riverine CH 4 were observed. Results from undisturbed forest streams indicate that rivers can contain high natural levels of CH 4 not attributable to pollution. Lateral diffusion and runoff from saturated forest and fertilized agricultural soils may be important in determining methane levels in rivers. Methane concentrations in well‐flushed estuaries appear to be controlled mainly by mixing between high CH 4 ‐containing river water and low CH 4 ‐containing seawater endmembers. Rivers and estuaries were found to be sources of methane to the atmosphere. Calculated daily fluxes to the atmosphere ranged from 1.2 to 71 mg CH 4 m −2 for rivers and from 0.04 to 21 mg CH 4 m −2 for estuarine samples.