The Loads and Biogeochemical Properties of Riverine Carbon
Although rivers cover only 0.5% of the total land area on the Earth, they are windows that show the integrated effects of watershed biogeochemistry. Studies on the loads and properties of riverine carbon have been conducted because they are directly linked with drinking water quality, and because regional or global net ecosystem production (NEP) can be overestimated, unless riverine carbon loads are subtracted. Globally, ~0.8-1.5 Pg yr-1 and ~0.62-2.1 Pg yr-1 of carbon are transported from terrestrial ecosystems to the ocean via rivers and from inland waters to the atmosphere, respectively. Concentrations, δ13C, and fluorescence spectra of riverine carbon have been investigated in South Korea to understand the spatiotemporal changes in the sources. Precipitation as well as land use/land cover can strongly influence the composition of riverine carbon, thus shifting the ratios among DIC, DOC, and POC, which could affect the concentrations, loads, and the degradability of adsorbed organic and inorganic toxic materials. A variety of analyses including 14C and high resolution mass spectroscopy need to be employed to precisely define the sources and to quantify the degradability of riverine carbon. Long-term data on concentrations of major ions including alkalinity and daily discharge have been used to show direct evidence of ecosystem changes in the US. The current database managed by the Korean government could be improved further by integrating the data collected by individual researchers, and by adding the major components ions including DIC, DOC, and POC into the database.