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Chemical and Strontium Isotopic Compositions of the Hanjiang Basin Rivers in China: Anthropogenic Impacts and Chemical Weathering

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Abstract

The Hanjiang River, the largest tributaries of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River, is the water source area of the Middle Route of China’s South-to-North Water Transfer Project. The chemical and strontium isotopic compositions of the river waters are determined with the main purpose of understanding the contribution of chemical weathering processes and anthropogenic inputs on river solutes, as well as the associated CO2 consumption in the carbonate-dominated basin. The major ion compositions of the Hanjiang River waters are characterized by the dominance of Ca2+ and HCO3 −, followed by Mg2+ and SO4 2−. The increase in TDS and major anions (Cl−, NO3 −, and SO4 2−) concentrations from upstream to downstream is ascribed to both extensive influences from agriculture and domestic activities over the Hanjiang basin. The chemical and Sr isotopic analyses indicate that three major weathering sources (dolomite, limestone, and silicates) contribute to the total dissolved loads. The contributions of the different end-members to the dissolved load are calculated with the mass balance approach. The calculated results show that the dissolved load is dominated by carbonates weathering, the contribution of which accounts for about 79.4% for the Hanjiang River. The silicate weathering and anthropogenic contributions are approximately 12.3 and 6.87%, respectively. The total TDS fluxes from chemical weathering calculated for the water source area (the upper Hanjiang basin) and the whole Hanjiang basin are approximately 3.8 × 106 and 6.1 × 106 ton/year, respectively. The total chemical weathering (carbonate and silicate) rate for the Hanjiang basin is approximately 38.5 ton/km2/year or 18.6 mm/k year, which is higher than global mean values. The fluxes of CO2 consumption by carbonate and silicate weathering are estimated to be 56.4 × 109 and 12.9 × 109 mol/year, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

This study is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40773077) and Key Projects in the National Science & Technology Pillar Programme (No. 2008BAD98B04). The authors are grateful to Hongyin Han (China University of Geosciences) and Zhuyin Chu (Institute of Geology and Geophysica, CAS) for their professional chemical and isotopic analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Engineering Geomechanics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100029, Beijing, China

    Zhifang Xu & Chao Shi

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China

    Chao Shi & Yang Tang

  3. Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 550002, Guiyang, Guizhou, China

    Yang Tang

  4. Key Laboratory of Biologic Geology and Environmental Geology under Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, 430074, Wuhan, China

    Hongyin Han

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  1. Zhifang Xu
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  2. Chao Shi
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Correspondence to Zhifang Xu.

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Xu, Z., Shi, C., Tang, Y. et al. Chemical and Strontium Isotopic Compositions of the Hanjiang Basin Rivers in China: Anthropogenic Impacts and Chemical Weathering. Aquat Geochem 17, 243–264 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-011-9132-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-011-9132-5

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