Rock denudation rates and organic carbon exports along a latitudinal gradient in the Hudson, James, and Ungava bays watershed

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 742-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Rosa ◽  
Jérôme Gaillardet ◽  
Claude Hillaire-Marcel ◽  
Jean-François Hélie ◽  
Louis-Filip Richard

This study documents chemical denudation rates (CDR) in the Canadian Shield and Interior Platform. It focuses on the dissolved chemistry of rivers flowing into the Hudson, James, and Ungava bays (HJUB). Major ions, strontium, neodymium, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations were monitored in four rivers (Koksoak, Great Whale, La Grande, and Nelson). Six other rivers flowing into the HJUB were sampled during baseflow and snowmelt conditions. The rivers of the Canadian Shield exhibit major cation concentrations ranging between 62 and 360 µmol/L, [Nd] of 0.57–4.72 nmol/L, and variable [DOC] of 241–1777 µmol/L. In comparison, the Nelson River (Interior Platform) shows higher major cation concentrations (1200–2276 µmol/L), lower [Nd] (0.14–0.45 nmol/L), and intermediate [DOC] (753–928 µmol/L). Altogether, the studied rivers export 8 × 106 t/year of dissolved major cations and 50 t/year of dissolved Nd towards the HJUB. Basin-scale rock denudation rates (RDR) range from 1.0 to 5.3 t·km–2·year–1 and are essentially controlled by lithology, as illustrated by the relationship established between RDR and the proportion of sedimentary and volcanic rocks (%S + %V) within the basins: RDR = 0.08(%S + %V) + 0.9. In contrast, dissolved Nd exports (and likely other insoluble elements) seem to be dependent upon organic matter leaching, as illustrated by the empirical coupling between Nd and DOC exports. These fluxes decrease northwards, likely in response to the hydroclimatic gradient. The CDR evaluated within the Canadian Shield are among the lowest on the planet, and the alkalinity generated by rock weathering remains small with respect to DOC exports.

2021 ◽  
Vol 133 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 1851-1874
Author(s):  
Jim E. O’Connor ◽  
Joseph F. Mangano ◽  
Daniel R. Wise ◽  
Joshua R. Roering

Abstract Riverine measurements of sediment and solute transport give empirical basin-scale estimates of bed-load, suspended-sediment, and silicate-solute fluxes for 100,000 km2 of northwestern California and western Oregon. This spatially explicit sediment budget shows the multifaceted control of geology and physiography on the rates and processes of fluvial denudation. Bed-load transport is greatest for steep basins, particularly in areas underlain by the accreted Klamath terrane. Bed-load flux commonly decreases downstream as clasts convert to suspended load by breakage and attrition, particularly for softer rock types. Suspended load correlates strongly with lithology, basin slope, precipitation, and wildfire disturbance. It is highest in steep regions of soft rocks, and our estimates suggest that much of the suspended load is derived from bed-load comminution. Dissolution, measured by basin-scale silicate-solute yield, constitutes a third of regional landscape denudation. Solute yield correlates with precipitation and is proportionally greatest in low-gradient and wet basins and for high parts of the Cascade Range, where undissected Quaternary volcanic rocks soak in 2–3 m of annual precipitation. Combined, these estimates provide basin-scale erosion rates ranging from ∼50 t · km−2 · yr−1 (approximately equivalent to 0.02 mm · yr−1) for low-gradient basins such as the Willamette River to ~500 t · km−2 · yr−1 (∼0.2 mm · yr−1) for steep coastal drainages. The denudation rates determined here from modern measurements are less than those estimated by longer-term geologic assessments, suggesting episodic disturbances such as fire, flood, seismic shaking, and climate change significantly add to long-term landscape denudation.


1977 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-76
Author(s):  
B. Bobée ◽  
D. Cluis ◽  
A. Tessier

Abstract A water quality sampling programme for James Bay territory established in a previous study has been carried out for the Department of Natural Resources of the Province of Quebec. The network is composed of 5 base-stations, sampled every fortnight to determine the variability with time of the parameters and 16 satellite-stations, sampled five times yearly with a view to determine the spatial variability. The data (major ions and certain nutrients) gathered during the 1974–1975 field survey are subjected to an analysis by a multivariate technique (correspondence analysis) in addition to certain classical statistical methods. The latter have shown that the mean values obtained at satellite stations were representative of the annual mean. In addition, the results permit the determination for a given parameter, of the relationship between stations and, for a given station, the relationship between parameters. In both cases, the formulation of predictive equations was attempted. An overall evaluation of the data by correspondence analysis has permitted: - a more precise definition of the qualitative behaviour of the different sub-basins of the James Bay territory and characterization of their waters;- a proof of the existence of gradual concentration changes in both East-West and North-South directions. Within the original objectives of the network, the results of the study have led to the following recommendations: - to continue synchronised samplings;- to transform a base station with a low information content into a satellite station;- to create a new base station in the eastern part of the territory.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaolian Ye ◽  
Jiashu Liu ◽  
Aijun Gu ◽  
Feifei Feng ◽  
Yuhai Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract. Knowledge on aerosol chemistry in densely populated regions is critical for reduction of air pollution, while such studies haven't been conducted in Changzhou, an important manufacturing base and polluted city in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), China. This work, for the first time, performed a thorough chemical characterization on the fine particular matter (PM2.5) samples, collected during July 2015 to April 2016 across four seasons in Changzhou city. A suite of analytical techniques were employed to characterize organic carbon / elemental carbon (OC / EC), water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), water-soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs), trace elements, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in PM2.5; in particular, an Aerodyne soot particle aerosol mass spectrometer (SP-AMS) was deployed to probe the chemical properties of water-soluble organic aerosols (WSOA). The average PM2.5 concentrations were found to be 108.3 μg m−3, and all identified species were able to reconstruct ~ 80 % of the PM2.5 mass. The WSIIs occupied about half of the PM2.5 mass (~ 52.1 %), with SO42−, NO3− and NH4+ as the major ions. On average, nitrate concentrations dominated over sulfate (mass ratio of 1.21), indicating influences from traffic emissions. OC and EC correlated well with each other and the highest OC / EC ratio (5.16) occurred in winter, suggesting complex OC sources likely including both secondarily formed and primarily emitted OA. Concentrations of eight trace elements (Mn, Zn, Al, B, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb) can contribute up to 6.0 % of PM2.5 during winter. PAHs concentrations were also high in winter (140.25 ng m−3), which were predominated by median/high molecular weight PAHs with 5- and 6-rings. The organic matter including both water-soluble and water-insoluble species occupied ~ 20 % PM2.5 mass. SP-AMS determined that the WSOA had an average atomic oxygen-to-carbon (O / C), hydrogen-to-carbon (H / C), nitrogen-to-carbon (N / C) and organic matter-to-organic carbon (OM / OC) ratios of 0.36, 1.54, 0.11, and 1.74, respectively. Source apportionment of WSOA further identified two secondary OA (SOA) factors (a less oxidized and a more oxidized OA) and two primary OA (POA) factors (a nitrogen enriched hydrocarbon-like traffic OA and a cooking-related OA). On average, the POA contribution overweighed SOA (55 % vs. 45 %), indicating the important role of local anthropogenic emissions to the aerosol pollution in Changzhou. Our measurement also shows the abundance of organic nitrogen species in WSOA, and the source analyses suggest these species likely associated with traffic emissions, which warrants more investigations on PM samples from other locations.


1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Kamo ◽  
T. E. Krogh ◽  
P. S. Kumarapeli

U–Pb baddeleyite and zircon ages for three diabase dykes from widely spaced localities within the Grenville dyke swarm indicate a single age of emplacement at [Formula: see text] Ma. The 700 km long Grenville dyke swarm, located in the southeastern part of the Canadian Shield, was emplaced syntectonically with the development of the Ottawa graben. This graben may represent a plume-generated lapetan failed arm that developed at the onset of the breakup of Laurentia. Other precisely dated lapetan rift-related units, such as the Callander Alkaline Complex and the Tibbit Hill Formation volcanic rocks, indicate a protracted 36 Ma period of rifting and magmatism prior to volcanism along this segment of the lapetan margin. The age of the Grenville dykes is the youngest in a progression of precisely dated mafic magmatic events from the 723 Ma Franklin dykes and sills to the 615 Ma Long Range dykes, along the northern and northeastern margins of Laurentia, respectively. Thus, the age for these dykes represents a key time marker for continental breakup that preceded the formation of the Iapetus ocean.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3279-3297 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.-H. Chang ◽  
N. C. Johnson ◽  
N. Cassar

Abstract. Southern Ocean organic carbon export plays an important role in the global carbon cycle, yet its basin-scale climatology and variability are uncertain due to limited coverage of in situ observations. In this study, a neural network approach based on the self-organizing map (SOM) is adopted to construct weekly gridded (1° × 1°) maps of organic carbon export for the Southern Ocean from 1998 to 2009. The SOM is trained with in situ measurements of O2 / Ar-derived net community production (NCP) that are tightly linked to the carbon export in the mixed layer on timescales of one to two weeks and with six potential NCP predictors: photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), particulate organic carbon (POC), chlorophyll (Chl), sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface height (SSH), and mixed layer depth (MLD). This nonparametric approach is based entirely on the observed statistical relationships between NCP and the predictors and, therefore, is strongly constrained by observations. A thorough cross-validation yields three retained NCP predictors, Chl, PAR, and MLD. Our constructed NCP is further validated by good agreement with previously published, independent in situ derived NCP of weekly or longer temporal resolution through real-time and climatological comparisons at various sampling sites. The resulting November–March NCP climatology reveals a pronounced zonal band of high NCP roughly following the Subtropical Front in the Atlantic, Indian, and western Pacific sectors, and turns southeastward shortly after the dateline. Other regions of elevated NCP include the upwelling zones off Chile and Namibia, the Patagonian Shelf, the Antarctic coast, and areas surrounding the Islands of Kerguelen, South Georgia, and Crozet. This basin-scale NCP climatology closely resembles that of the satellite POC field and observed air–sea CO2 flux. The long-term mean area-integrated NCP south of 50° S from our dataset, 17.9 mmol C m−2 d−1, falls within the range of 8.3 to 24 mmol C m−2 d−1 from other model estimates. A broad agreement is found in the basin-wide NCP climatology among various models but with significant spatial variations, particularly in the Patagonian Shelf. Our approach provides a comprehensive view of the Southern Ocean NCP climatology and a potential opportunity to further investigate interannual and intraseasonal variability.


1973 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1441-1445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Stainton

A simple, rapid method for determining dissolved inorganic carbon in water is described. A 20-cm3 sample of water is drawn into a 50-cm3 polypropylene syringe and acidified by injection of 1 cm3 of dilute sulphuric acid. Twenty-nine cubic centimeters of helium at atmospheric pressure is injected into the syringe followed by 10 sec of manual agitation to partition CO2 between gas and liquid phase. The gas phase containing 60% of CO2 from the sample is then analyzed by gas chromatography. This method has been used to determine dissolved inorganic and organic carbon in Canadian Shield waters and to determine total carbonates in sediments.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Schmid

<p>The work reported here builds upon a previous pilot study by the author on ANN-enhanced flow rating (Schmid, 2020), which explored the use of electrical conductivity (EC) in addition to stage to obtain ‘better’, i.e. more accurate and robust, estimates of streamflow. The inclusion of EC has an advantage, when the relationship of EC versus flow rate is not chemostatic in character. In the majority of cases, EC is, indeed, not chemostatic, but tends to decrease with increasing discharge (so-called dilution behaviour), as reported by e.g. Moatar et al. (2017), Weijs et al. (2013) and Tunqui Neira et al.(2020). This is also in line with this author’s experience.</p><p>The research presented here takes the neural network based approach one major step further and incorporates the temporal rate of change in stage and the direction of change in EC among the input variables (which, thus, comprise stage, EC, change in stage and direction of change in EC). Consequently, there are now 4 input variables in total employed as predictors of flow rate. Information on the temporal changes in both flow rate and EC helps the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) characterize hysteretic behaviour, with EC assuming different values for falling and rising flow rate, respectively, as described, for instance, by Singley et al. (2017).</p><p>The ANN employed is of the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) type, with stage, EC, change in stage and direction of change in EC of the Mödling data set (Schmid, 2020) as input variables. Summarising the stream characteristics, the Mödling brook can be described as a small Austrian stream with a catchment of fairly mixed composition (forests, agricultural and urbanized areas). The relationship of EC versus flow reflects dilution behaviour. Neural network configuration 4-5-1 (the 4 input variables mentioned above, 5 hidden nodes and discharge as the single output) with learning rate 0.05 and momentum 0.15 was found to perform best, with testing average RMSE (root mean square error) of the scaled output after 100,000 epochs amounting to 0.0138 as compared to 0.0216 for the (best performing) 2-5-1 MLP with stage and EC as inputs only.    </p><p> </p><p>References</p><p>Moatar, F., Abbott, B.W., Minaudo, C., Curie, F. and Pinay, G.: Elemental properties, hydrology, and biology interact to shape concentration-discharge curves for carbon, nutrients, sediment and major ions. Water Resources Res., 53, 1270-1287, 2017.</p><p>Schmid, B.H.: Enhanced flow rating using neural networks with water stage and electrical conductivity as predictors. EGU2020-1804, EGU General Assembly 2020.</p><p>Singley, J.G., Wlostowski, A.N., Bergstrom, A.J., Sokol, E.R., Torrens, C.L., Jaros, C., Wilson, C.,E., Hendrickson, P.J. and Gooseff, M.N.: Characterizing hyporheic exchange processes using high-frequency electrical conductivity-discharge relationships on subhourly to interannual timescales. Water Resources Res. 53, 4124-4141, 2017.</p><p>Tunqui Neira, J.M., Andréassian, V., Tallec, G. and Mouchel, J.-M.: A two-sided affine power scaling relationship to represent the concentration-discharge relationship. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 24, 1823-1830, 2020.</p><p>Weijs, S.V., Mutzner, R. and Parlange, M.B.: Could electrical conductivity replace water level in rating curves for alpine streams? Water Resources Research 49, 343-351, 2013.</p>


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