Gwenaël Abril

Carbon dioxide and methane emissions and the carbon budget of a 10-year old tropical reservoir (Petit Saut, French Guiana)

emissions, 0.07 ± 0.01) the first 3 years after impounding (1994–1996) and then decreased to 0.12 ± 0.01 Mt yr 1 C( CO2, 0.10 ± 0.01; CH4, 0.016 ± 0.006) since 2000. On average over the 10 years, 61% of the CO2 emissions occurred by diffusion from the reservoir surface, 31% from the estuary, 7% by degassing at the outlet of the dam, and a negligible fraction by bubbling. CH4 diffusion and bubbling from the reservoir surface were predominant (40% and 44%, respectively) only the first year after impounding. Since 1995, degassing at an aerating weir downstream of the turbines has become the major pathway for CH4 emissions, reaching 70% of the total CH4 flux. In 2003, river carbon inputs were balanced by carbon outputs to the ocean and were about 3 times lower than the atmospheric flux, which suggests that 10 years after impounding, the flooded terrestrial carbon is still the predominant contributor to the gaseous emissions. In 10 years, about 22% of the 10 Mt C flooded was lost to the atmosphere. Our results confirm the significance of greenhouse gas emissions from tropical reservoir but stress the importance of: (1) considering all the gas pathways upstream and downstream of the dams and (2) taking into account the reservoir age when upscaling emissions rates at the global scale.

Amazon River carbon dioxide outgassing fuelled by wetlands

River systems connect the terrestrial biosphere, the atmosphere and the ocean in the global carbon cycle. A recent estimate suggests that up to 3 petagrams of carbon per year could be emitted as carbon dioxide (CO2) from global inland waters, offsetting the carbon uptake by terrestrial ecosystems. It is generally assumed that inland waters emit carbon that has been previously fixed upstream by land plant photosynthesis, then transferred to soils, and subsequently transported downstream in run-off. But at the scale of entire drainage basins, the lateral carbon fluxes carried by small rivers upstream do not account for all of the CO2 emitted from inundated areas downstream. Three-quarters of the world’s flooded land consists of temporary wetlands, but the contribution of these productive ecosystems to the inland water carbon budget has been largely overlooked. Here we show that wetlands pump large amounts of atmospheric CO2 into river waters in the floodplains of the central Amazon. Flooded forests and floating vegetation export large amounts of carbon to river waters and the dissolved CO2 can be transported dozens to hundreds of kilometres downstream before being emitted. We estimate that Amazonian wetlands export half of their gross primary production to river waters as dissolved CO2 and organic carbon, compared with only a few per cent of gross primary production exported in upland (not flooded) ecosystems. Moreover, we suggest that wetland carbon export is potentially large enough to account for at least the 0.21 petagrams of carbon emitted per year as CO2 from the central Amazon River and its floodplains. Global carbon budgets should explicitly address temporary or vegetated flooded areas, because these ecosystems combine high aerial primary production with large, fast carbon export, potentially supporting a substantial fraction of CO2 evasion from inland waters.

Methane and carbon dioxide emissions from tropical reservoirs : Significance of downstream rivers

[1] Methane (CH4) andcarbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and water-air fluxes were measured in three tropical reservoirs and their respective rivers downstream of the dams. From reservoirs, CH4 and CO2 flux were in the range of 3 ± 2 and 254± 392mmol.m � 2 .d � 1 ,respectively.Riversdownstreamof dams were significantly enriched in CH4 and CO2 originating from reservoir hypolimnions. From rivers, CH4 and CO2 flux were in the range of 60 ± 38 and 859 ± 400 mmol.m � 2 .d � 1 , respectively. Despite their relatively small surfaces, rivers downstream of dams accounted for a significant fraction (9– 33% for CH4 and 7–25% for CO2) of the emissions across the reservoir surfaces classically taken into account for reservoirs. A significant fraction of CH4 appeared to degas at the vicinity of the dam (turbines and spillways), although it could not be

Inorganic and organic carbon biogeochemistry in the Gautami Godavari estuary (Andhra Pradesh, India) during pre‐monsoon: The local impact of extensive mangrove forests

tidal mangrove creeks in the delta. Here, variations in the concentration and d 13 Co f the DIC pool were shown to result largely from the mineralization of organic matter. The present study clearly identifies the mangrove creeks as an active site of mineralization and CO2 efflux to the atmosphere, but shows that these changes in the aquatic biogeochemistry are a localized feature, rapidly fading in the adjacent Kakinada Bay. Our data indicate that mineralization of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of mangrove origin, and its subsequent efflux as CO2 to the atmosphere may represent an important fate for mangrove carbon. Although further quantification of this process in a variety of systems is required, we suggest that some of the current ideas on the role of mangroves in the carbon budget of the coastal zone may need to be reconsidered. INDEX TERMS: 4235 Oceanography: General: Estuarine processes; 4504 Oceanography: Physical: Air/sea interactions (0312); 4805 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Biogeochemical cycles (1615); 4815 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Ecosystems, structure and dynamics; KEYWORDS: mangroves, mineralization, stable isotopes

Particulate organic carbon in the estuarine turbidity maxima of the Gironde, Loire and Seine estuaries: origin and lability.

A study of the particulate organic carbon (POC) in the estuarine turbidity maxima (ETMs) of the three major French macrotidal estuaries shows that the average contents are 1.5, 3.3 and 3.1% (expressed in % of dry suspended sediment) in the Gironde, Loire and Seine Estuaries, respectively. There is no seasonal variation of POC contents in the Gironde Estuary, whereas, they often increase in the Loire and the Seine Estuaries in spring and summer. The lability of the estuarine particulate organic matter was estimated by two analyses: 1/labile organic matter was measured as the organic carbon loss during incubation tests over one month; 2/ the hydrolysable organic fraction was determined after 6N HCl digestion. The organic fractions of the ETMs are mainly refractory. Any increase in the amount of POC as compared to the background levels (cited above) is always correlated to an increase of organic matter lability. The yearly average fluvial contributions by various particulate organic pools (soil and litter organic matter; organic matter of phytoplanktonic and human origin) that enter the three estuaries were quantified. In the Garonne River, soil and litter are the major (90%) POC sources. In the Loire system, due to the eutrophication of the river water, phytoplankton contributes up to 50% of the total POC load. In the Seine river, soil and litter contribute 70% of the total POC input; POC of human origin is also significant (10%), due to the impact of the City of Paris (10 million inhabitants). The lability of the different types of organic matter ranks as follows: phytoplankton ∼litter > human-origin organic matter >> soil. By combining the POC budgets and the lability of each type of organic fraction, it was possible to explain why the POC of the three ETMs is different and characterizes its refractory vs. labile nature.

Dynamics of organic and inorganic carbon across contiguous mangrove and seagrass systems (Gazi Bay, Kenya)

forest and the dense seagrass beds. The latter is consistent with the reported export of mangrove-derived material, which is efficiently trapped in the adjacent seagrass beds. There were significant net inputs of POC and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) along the Kidogoweni salinity gradient, for which the d 13 CPOC signatures were consistent with those of mangroves. DOC was the dominant form of organic carbon in both mangrove and seagrass beds, with DOC/POC ratios typically between 3 and 15. Dynamics of dissolved inorganic carbon in the creeks were strongly influenced by diagenetic C degradation in the intertidal mangrove areas, resulting in significant CO2 emission from the water column to the atmosphere. Although highest partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) values and areal CO2 flux rates were observed in the mangrove creeks, and the water column above the seagrass beds was in some locations a net sink of CO2, most of the ecosystems’ emission of CO2 to the atmosphere occurred in the seagrass beds adjacent to the mangrove forest. The presence of dense seagrass beds thus had a strong effect on the aquatic biogeochemistry, and resulted in trapping and further mineralization of mangrove-derived POC, intense O2 production and CO2 uptake. The adjacent seagrass beds provide a large area with conditions favorable to exchange of CO2 with the atmosphere, thereby limiting export of mangrove-derived organic and inorganic carbon toward the coastal ocean.

Carbon Dioxide and Methane Emissions from Estuaries

Carbon dioxide and methane emissions from estuaries are reviewed in relation with biogeochemical processes and carbon cycling. In estuaries, carbon dioxide and methane emissions show a large spatial and temporal variability, which results from a complex interaction of river carbon inputs, sedimentation and resuspension processes, microbial processes in waters and sediments, tidal exchanges with marshes and flats and gas exchange with the atmosphere. The net mineralization of land- and marsh-derived organic carbon leads to high CO2 atmospheric emissions (10–1000 mmol·m−2·d−1 i.e. 44–44 000 mg·m−2·d−1) from inner estuarine waters and tidal flats and marsh sediments. Estuarine plumes at sea are sites of intense primary production and show large seasonal variations of pCO2 from undersaturation to oversaturation; on an annual basis, some plumes behave as net sinks of atmospheric CO2 and some others as net sources; CO2 atmospheric fluxes in plumes are usually one order of magnitude lower than in inner estuaries. Methane emissions to the atmosphere are moderate in estuaries (0.02–0.5 mmol·m−2·d−1 i.e. 0.32–8 mg·m−2·d−1), except in vegetated tidal flats and marshes, particularly those at freshwater sites, where sediments may be CH4-saturated. CH4 emissions from subtidal estuarine waters are the result of lateral inputs from river and marshes followed by physical ventilation, rather than intense in-situ production in the sediments, where oxic and suboxic conditions dominate. Microbial oxidation significantly reduces the CH4 emissions at low salinity (<10) only.

Metal mobilization in the Gironde Estuary (France): the role of the soft mud layer in the maximum turbidity zone

Vertical profiles of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni and Pb) in the particulate and dissolved phases and redox sensitive parameters (dissolved oxygen, nitrate, nitrite and ammonium) were analyzed for the first time in the continuum Maximum Turbidity Zone (MTZ)–Fluid Mud (FM; 50 g l 1 <suspended particulate matter (SPM)<500 g l 1 )-consolidated sediment of a macrotidal, highly turbid estuary: the Gironde. The results show that the fluid mud is a layer of intense metal mobilization due to redox induced dissolution, releasing trace metals into the water column. This newly identified phenomenon creates a transient situation characterized by the onset of diagenetic sequences in the FM, i.e. in the lower part of the water column. These sequences overlie permanent diagenetic sequences in the consolidated sediment, similar to those typically observed in marine and estuarine sediments. The discontinuity of dissolved Cd, Ni and Pb concentrations at the sediment surface indicates that Mn reduction is faster in the FM than in the upper sediment, isolated from the oxic water column by the suboxic FM. Two separate diagenetic signals are preserved, as the installation of the diagenetic sequence in the FM is faster than the molecular diffusion of dissolved compounds through the FM–sediment interface. The diagenetic signal of trace metals (e.g. dissolved Cr maximum) in the upper sediment layer near the FM–sediment interface is interpreted as a transient record of past hydrologic situations, during which the absence of the FM layer permitted the installation of an oxic/suboxic front in the upper sediment. The resuspension of the FM during the spring tide probably results in a new distribution of these elements in the estuary, where they may be stabilized in the dissolved phase (e.g. by chloride complexes or dissolved organic compounds) or be adsorbed onto reactive particles (e.g. freshly precipitated Mn oxyhydroxides). D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Distribution of phytoplankton pigments in nine European estuaries and implications for an estuarine typology

Phytoplankton pigments were studied by LiquidChromatography (HPLC) in nine West Europeanestuaries. Three estuaries, i.e. the Rhine,Scheldt and the Gironde were sampled four timesto cover the different seasons, whereas theother six estuaries were sampled once. Pigmentdistributions in estuaries reflect bothriverine inputs as well as autochthonousblooms. Fucoxanthin was the most commonaccessory photosynthetic pigment showing thatDiatoms were the most common group in thestudied estuaries and were particularlydominant during autumn and winter. In the veryturbid Gironde estuary, degradation processeswere predominant between salinities 1 and 20,while Diatoms, Dinoflagellates and Cryptophytesbloomed above 20 salinity during spring andsummer. This contrasted with the highlyeutrophic but less turbid Scheldt, wherephytoplanktonic blooms occurred at lowsalinities close to the city of Antwerp. In theScheldt, we observed both a tenfold fluctuationof phytoplankton biomass and a fluctuatingpigment diversity index. In contrast,chlorophyll a was always low in theGironde, but we observed large variations ofpigment diversity among samplings duringdifferent seasons. Distribution of pheopigmentsshowed that the maximum turbidity zone (MTZ)was a highly reactive region for heterotrophicphytoplankton degradation. The Scheldt and theThames were the most anthropogenic influencedestuaries contrasting with the Gironde estuarythat has a less urbanised watershed. Anestuarine typology is proposed based on threeclusters emerging from a correspondenceanalysis of pigment variables and variablescharacterising the anthropogenic impact andphysical forcing.

Divergent biophysical controls of aquatic CO2 and CH4 in the World’s two largest rivers

Carbon emissions to the atmosphere from inland waters are globally significant and mainly occur at tropical latitudes. However, processes controlling the intensity of CO2 and CH4 emissions from tropical inland waters remain poorly understood. Here, we report a data-set of concurrent measurements of the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) and dissolved CH4 concentrations in the Amazon (n = 136) and the Congo (n = 280) Rivers. The pCO2 values in the Amazon mainstem were significantly higher than in the Congo, contrasting with CH4 concentrations that were higher in the Congo than in the Amazon. Large-scale patterns in pCO2 across different lowland tropical basins can be apprehended with a relatively simple statistical model related to the extent of wetlands within the basin, showing that, in addition to non-flooded vegetation, wetlands also contribute to CO2 in river channels. On the other hand, dynamics of dissolved CH4 in river channels are less straightforward to predict, and are related to the way hydrology modulates the connectivity between wetlands and river channels.