Seasonally chemical weathering and CO₂ consumption flux of Lake Qinghai river system in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

The major cation and anion compositions of waters from the Lake Qinghai river system (LQRS) in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau were measured. The waters were collected seasonally from five main rivers during pre-monsoon (late May), monsoon (late July), and post-monsoon (middle October). The LQRS waters are all very alkaline and have high concentrations of TDS (total dissolved solids) compared to rivers draining the Himalayas and the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Seasonal variations in the water chemistry show that, except the Daotang River, the TDS concentration is high in October and low in July in the LQRS waters. The forward models were used to quantify the input of three main rivers (Buha River, Shaliu River, and Hargai River) from rain, halite, carbonates, and silicates. The results suggest that (1) atmospheric input is the first important source for the waters of the Buha River and the Shaliu River, contributing 36–57% of the total dissolved cations, (2) carbonate weathering input and atmospheric input have equal contribution to the Hargai River water, (3) carbonate weathering has higher contribution to these rivers than silicate weathering, and (4) halite is also important source for the Buha River. The Daotang River water is dominated by halite input owing to its underlying old lacustrine sediments. The water compositions of the Heima River are controlled by carbonate weathering and rainfall input in monsoon season, and groundwater input may be important in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. After being corrected the atmospheric input, average CO₂ drawdown via silicate weathering in the LQRS is 35 × 10³ mol/km² per year, with highest in monsoon season, lower than Himalayas and periphery of Tibetan Plateau rivers but higher than some rivers draining shields.