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Sporadic hotspots for physico-chemical retention of aquatic organic carbon: from peatland headwater source to sea

Palmer, S.M.; Evans, C.D.; Chapman, P.J.; Burden, A.; Jones, T.G.; Allott, T.E.H.; Evans, M.G.; Moody, C.S.; Worrall, F.; Holden, J.

Sporadic hotspots for physico-chemical retention of aquatic organic carbon: from peatland headwater source to sea Thumbnail


Authors

S.M. Palmer

C.D. Evans

P.J. Chapman

A. Burden

T.G. Jones

T.E.H. Allott

M.G. Evans

C.S. Moody

J. Holden



Abstract

Few studies have quantified the role of in-stream processes on net dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOC and POC, respectively) export from peatland catchments, and those that have offer conflicting evidence. In this study, we evaluated evidence for active organic matter processing under field conditions, via a coordinated campaign across four UK catchments with peatland headwaters, targeted on potential ‘hotspots’ and ‘hot moments’ of physico-chemical carbon cycling. We hypothesised that specific hotspots and hot moments would occur where waters enriched with DOC and POC sourced from headwaters are exposed to: (1) mixing with freshwaters of different pH, conductivity and metal concentrations; and (2) mixing with seawater during autumn when DOC concentrations were at their highest. We observed instances of POC removal in headwaters, and potential for rapid conversion between dissolved and particulate carbon forms and for net removal of peat-derived carbon at confluences further downstream (where observed, on the order of 52–75 % for POC, and 5–44 % for DOC). Estuary transect surveys indicated that up to 30 % of fluvial DOC can be removed under high flow conditions. However, in the majority of cases concentrations remained within the range that would be expected based on conservative transport. These findings indicate that rapid (e.g. solubility-related) processes within the river system may be important but sporadic, thus are unlikely to provide major removal pathways for peat-derived organic carbon.

Citation

Palmer, S., Evans, C., Chapman, P., Burden, A., Jones, T., Allott, T., …Holden, J. (2016). Sporadic hotspots for physico-chemical retention of aquatic organic carbon: from peatland headwater source to sea. Aquatic Sciences - Research Across Boundaries, 78(3), 491-504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-015-0448-x

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 6, 2015
Online Publication Date Dec 23, 2015
Publication Date Jul 1, 2016
Deposit Date Nov 2, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Aquatic Sciences - Research Across Boundaries
Print ISSN 1015-1621
Electronic ISSN 1420-9055
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 78
Issue 3
Pages 491-504
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-015-0448-x

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2015 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.





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