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Carbon dynamics and sources in the Parani River
Author(s) -
Depetris Pedro J.,
Kempre Stephan
Publication year - 1993
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.1993.38.2.0382
Subject(s) - total organic carbon , parana river , floodplain , particulate organic carbon , environmental science , particulates , hydrology (agriculture) , flood myth , carbon cycle , dissolved organic carbon , geology , oceanography , environmental chemistry , nutrient , ecology , geography , chemistry , phytoplankton , biology , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , ecosystem
The Paraná River was sampled and analyzed for carbon and mineral concentrations at the Paraná‐Santa Fe (Argentina) cross‐section (∼600 km above the mouth) between March 1981 and November 1984. Within this period, the Paraná was affected by an extraordinary flood caused by the 1982 El Niño/ Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climatic anomaly. Under such conditions, with a flow 75% higher than the long‐term mean, the river exported a total organic C (TOC) load of 8.43 Tg yr −1 (3.0 g m −2 yr −1 ) of which 89% was accounted for by dissolved organic C (DOC) and the remainder by particulate organic C (POC). Under normal hydrological conditions, however, the Paraná has a TOC load that is roughly half of that determined during the ENSO‐triggered flood (4.43 Tg yr −1 , 1.6 g m −2 yr −1 ), but with a very different DOC: POC ratio (63 : 37). In July–August 1985 the Paraná was sampled along a reach of over 1,300 km. At the time of sampling, the Paraguay River supplied ∼68% of the POC load, 59% of the labile particulate load (LPOC), and 71% of the DOC entering the middle reach of the Paraná. Carbohydrates in LPOC appear to become more abundant than amino acids in the lower reaches, probably due a significant input from the floodplain of the Paraná.