Fluxes of inorganic carbon from two forested catchments in the Appalachian mountains

✍ Scribed by Fred Worrall; Wayne T. Swank; Tim Burt

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 226 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6087
• DOI: 10.1002/hyp.5814

✦ Synopsis

This study uses long-term records of stream chemistry, discharge and air temperature from two neighbouring forested catchments in the southern Appalachians in order to calculate production of dissolved CO 2 and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). One of the pair of catchments was clear-felled during the period of the study. The study shows that:

(1) areal production rates of both dissolved CO 2 and DIC are similar between the two catchments even during and immediately after the period of clear-felling; (2) flux of total inorganic carbon (dissolved CO 2 C DIC) rises dramatically in response to a catchment-wide acidification event; (3) DIC and dissolved CO 2 are dominantly released on the old water portion of the discharge and concentrations peak in the early autumn when flows in the study catchments are at their lowest; (4) total fluvial carbon flux from the clear-felled catchment is 11Ð6 t km 2 year 1 and for the control catchment is 11Ð4 t km 2 year 1 . The total inorganic carbon flux represents 69% of the total fluvial carbon flux. The method presented in the study provides a useful way of estimating inorganic carbon flux from a catchment without detailed gas monitoring. The time series of dissolved CO 2 at emergence to the stream can also be a proxy for the soil flux of CO 2 .