Abstract
Concentrations of dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOC & POC) in river waters were measuredduring 1993–1994 in the Lanyang Hsi watershed, which representsa typical small Oceania river. The DOC concentrations varied in the range of 0.5–4 mg/l during non-typhoon period, but rose to as highas 8 mg/l during Typhoon Tim in July, 1994. Based on the log-linearrelationship between the DOC load and the discharge rate, weestimated the DOC export to be 3.4 ± 0.6 ktC/yr,and the DOC yield to be 4.1 ± 0.7 gC/m2/yr,which is considerably higher than a former estimate (ca.0.1 gC/m2/yr) for the Oceania. On the other hand, the DOC yield is less than the concurrent POC yield (21.7 ± 4.7gC/m2/yr) by a factor of five, but most of theexported POC is fossil carbon. Under the assumption that the suspended sediments contain a mean fossil POC content of0.5%, the nonfossil POC yield was calculated to be 4.6± 3.0 gC/m2/yr, comparable to theDOC yield. Since DOC and nonfossil POC are directly related to theecosystem, their combined fluxes give a biogenic organic carbonyield of 8.7 ± 3.1 gC/m2/yr.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brinson MM(1976) Organic matter losses from four watersheds in the humid tropics. Limnol. Oceanogr. 21: 572–582
Chang, C-I et al. (1992) The Geography of I-lan County. I-lan County Government, I-lan, Taiwan, ROC
Clair TA, Pollock TL & Ehrman JM (1994) Exports of carbon and nitrogen from river basins in Canada's Atlantic Provinces. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 8: 441–450
Degens ET & Ittekkot V (1985) Particulate organic carbon-an overview. In: Degens ET, Kempe S & Herrera R (Eds) Transport of carbon and minerals in major world rivers, lakes and estuaries. Mitt. Geol.-Palaont. Inst. Univ. Hamburg, pp 7–27
Eckhardt BW & Moore TR (1990) Controls on dissolved organic carbon concentrations in streams, south Quebec. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 47: 1547–1544
Ho, CS (1975) An Introduction to the Geology of Taiwan. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Republic of China, 153 pp
Ittekkot V (1988) Global trends in the nature of organic matter in river suspensions. Nature 332: 436–438
Kao S-J & Liu K-K (1996) Particulate organic carbon export from a subtropical mountainous river (Lanyang Hsi) in Taiwan. Limnol. Oceanogr. 41: 1749–1757
Kempe S (1979) Carbon in the rock cycle. In: Bolin B, Degens ET, Kempe S & Keener P (Eds) The Global Carbon Cycle. John Wiley, New York, pp 343–377
Lewis WM & Saunders JF (1989) Concentration and transport of dissolved and suspended substances in the Orinoco River. Biogeochemistry 7: 203–240
Li YH (1976) Denudation of Taiwan island since the Pliocene epoch. J. Geology 4: 105–107
Liu CM, Hong CC, Yang SS, Chiang SH, Chiou CT, Hsu SY & Liu KK (1996) National Communication for the Framework Convention on Climate Change-Recommended Draft. Global Change Center, National Taiwan University, 138 pp
Ludwig W, Probst J-L & Kempe S (1996) Predicting the oceanic input of organic carbon by continental erosion. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 10: 23–41
Meybeck M(1988) How to establish and use world budgets of river material. In: Lerman A & Meybeck M, Physical and Chemical Weathering in Goechemical Cycles. Kluwer, Norwell, Mass., pp 247–272
Meybeck M (1991) Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus transport by world rivers. Am. J. Sci. 282: 401–450
Meybeck M (1993) C, N, P, and S in rivers: from sources to global inputs. In: Wollast R, Mackenzie FT & Chou L (Eds) Interactions of C, N, P and S biogeochemical cycles and global change. Springer-Verlag, pp 163–194
Milliman JD (1991) Flux and fate of fluvial sediment and water in coastal seas. In: Mantoura RFC, Martin JM & Wollast R (Eds) Ocean margin processes in global change. John Wiley & Sons, pp 69–89
Milliman JD & Syvitski JPM (1992) Geomorphic/tectonic control of sediment discharge to the ocean: the importance of small mountainous rivers. J. Geology 100: 525–544
Mulholland PJ & Kuenzler EJ (1979) Organic carbon export from upland and forested wetland watersheds. Limnol. Oceanogr. 24: 960–966
Probst, JL, Moratti J and Tardy Y (1994) Carbon river fluxes and weathering CO2 consumption in the Congo and Amazon river basins. Appl. Geochem., 9: 1–13
Seino H & Uchijima Z (1992) Global distribution of net primary productivity of terrestrial vegetation. J. Agr. Met. 48: 39–48
Spitzy A & Leenheer J (1990) Dissolved organic carbon in rivers. In: Degens ET, Kempe S & Richey J (Eds) Biogeochemistry of major world rivers. John Wiley & Sons, pp 213–227
Siegenthaler U & Sarmiento JL (1993) Atmospheric carbon dioxide and the ocean. Nature 365: 119–125
Warnant P, Francois L, Strivay D & Gerard J-C (1994) CARAIB: A global model of terrestrial biological productivity. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 8: 255–270
Whittaker RH & Likens GE (1973) Carbon in the biota. In: Woodwell GM & Pecan EV (Eds) Carbon and the biosphere. CONF 720510 National Technical Information Service, Washington DC, pp 281–302
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kao, S., Liu, K. Fluxes of dissolved and nonfossil particulate organic carbon from an Oceania small river (Lanyang Hsi) in Taiwan. Biogeochemistry 39, 255–269 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005864605382
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005864605382