Luciane Silva Moreira

The optical properties of river and floodplain waters in the Amazon River Basin: Implications for satellite‐based measurements of suspended particulate matter

Satellite images can now be used to assess river sediment discharge, and systematic studies over rivers and lakes are required to support such applications and document the variability of inland water optical properties at the watershed scale. The optical properties of the Amazon Basin waters were analyzed from in situ measurements of the remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) at 279 stations and downwelling diffuse attenuation coefficients (Kd) at 133 stations. Measurements of the apparent optical properties, suspended particulate matter (SPM) contents, and characteristics and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) absorption spectra were performed during 16 cruises along the main Amazonian Rivers draining the Andes and for some tributaries. Surface-suspended sediment granulometry and mineralogy showed a stable distribution at the catchment scale, even over large distances and between tributaries. The particle number-size distribution was best described using a segmented distribution with a slope of 2.2 for the fine range (1–15 µm), and the CDOM absorption coefficient at 440 nm varied from 1.8 to 7.9 m−1. Overall, both Rrs and Kd were strongly correlated with SPM, although strong CDOM absorption limited the use of the blue spectrum. Reflectance saturation from blue to red was observed at approximately 100 g m−3, whereas the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength enabled the monitoring of the full SPM range (5–620 g m−3). In contrast, Kd showed no saturation for SPM from green to NIR, and a linear model was calculated. The use of the reflectance ratio was investigated and shown to improve the suspended sediment concentration retrieval performance.

Palaeohydrological controls on sedimentary organic matter in an Amazon floodplain lake, Lake Maracá (Brazil) during the late Holocene

In order to understand the impact of hydrological changes of the Amazon River on sedimentary organic matter (OM) composition in Amazonian floodplain lakes, three sediment cores were collected from Lake Maracá (eastern Amazonia) along a transect from the Amazon River main channel to inland. The cores were dated with 14C accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and studied by x-ray, mineralogical composition, total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents, stable isotopic composition of TOC and TN (δ13COC and δ15N) and glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) distributions. Two distinctive sedimentary depositional phases were identified based on the mineralogical composition and the geochemical characteristics of sedimentary OM. During the early–mid Holocene (~13,000–3200 cal. yr BP), low values of TOC followed by a break in sedimentation suggest a complete drying of the lake caused by drier climatic conditions. Between 3600 and 3200 cal. yr BP, this lake received a reduced influence of the Amazon River main stem. This induced a predominant deposition of C3-plant-derived OM supplied by surface erosion and runoff of acidic soil. A distinct connection of Lake Maracá to the Amazon River began after 3200 cal. yr BP and became permanently established, with its modern characteristics, at 1880 cal. yr BP. This change provoked an increased contribution of phytoplankton and semi-aquatic C4 macrophytes as well as C3 plant derived more alkaline soil OM to the sedimentary OM pool. Consequently, our study demonstrates that the source of sedimentary OM in the Amazon floodplain lakes was strongly linked to the Amazon River hydrodynamics during the late Holocene.

Reconstituição paleoambiental do Lago Santa Ninha, Várzea do Lago Grande de Curuai, Pará, Brasil

Physical, chemical and geochemical characteristics of lacustrine sediments were studied to reconstruct paleohydrologyical control on sedimentation in an Amazonian floodplain. A core was collected at the Lago Grande de Curuai floodplain, in the Santa Ninha Lake, located on the right margin of the Amazon River at 850 km of the estuary. Water content, granulometry, radiocarbon dating, organic carbon, nitrogen content and δ13C were used to characterize the sedimentary processes. The core is 270 cm-long which corresponds to 5600 cal years BP. The core points out different sedimentary environments: flooded vegetation at the base of the core till 4900 cal years BP is substituted by grass banks changing to a floodplain encompassing prolonged annual dryness at 4000 cal years BP. Since 600 cal years BP, the present day Varzea Lake, permanently over flooded, has been installed.

CARBON ACUMULATION IN AMAZON LAKES AS INDICATORS OF ANTROPIC AND PALEOCLIMATIC EVENTS

CARBON ACUMULATION IN AMAZON LAKES AS INDICATORS OF ANTROPIC AND PALEOCLIMATIC EVENTS. Land biota is regarded as a natural sink for atmospheric carbon. Tropical forests have an important role in this assimilation, but little is known about the role of continental aquatic systems in the process of carbon sequestration and its relationship with paleoclimatic changes. The objective of the present article is to bring together the main studies with Amazon lakes in order to highlight the participation of aquatic systems in the local accumulation of carbon and the participation of human-made and paleoclimatic changes in the Amazon in different time scales. Three different lake systems were analysed: the lowland lakes of Santa Ninha and Acarabixi, which are respectively directly infl uenced by the hydrological cycles of Amazon and Negro rivers, and some lakes that are isolated from the effects of the dynamics of Amazon rivers (which 131 ACUMULAÇÃO DE CARBONO EM LAGOS AMAZÔNICOS Oecol. Bras., 12 (1): 130-154, 2008 despite their little size play an important role in understanding the local palaeoclimatic processes). Records from the following locations were addressed: lake Pata (Amazon), lake Caracaranã (Roraima), lake CSN N4 Carajás (Pará), and a lake over a fl ooded fi eld at Humaitá (Amazon). As an example of a system under anthropogenic infl uence, a dam in a region of intense alternate land usage at Alta Floresta (Mato Grosso) was studied. The past environmental conditions and their effect over the way the different Amazon river ecosystems work nowadays were estimated using a number of palaeoenvironmental indicatirs: chronological analyses by 210Pb and 14C, organic carbon concentration, C/N ratio, determination of chlorophyll derivates, analysis of the deposition of charcoal particles, δ15N and δ13C, and accumulation rates of mercury, minerals , and carbon. The lowland lakes Santa Ninha and Acarabixi presented high carbon accumulation rates of over 400g/m2/yr, while the isolated lakes presented lower carbon accumulation rates, records rarely exceeding 20g/m2/yr. carbon accumulation rates between 10580 to 10550cal.yr. B.P. in lake Acarabixi lake were the highest, reaching 462g/ m2/yr, being its peak restricted to a brief period that dis not coincide with the peaks of Várzea of Curuaí. The carbon accumulation rate of Acarabixi is similar to the maximum carbon accumulation rate of the artifi cial barrier in the intense land use change area in Alta Floresta (MT). These data indicate that the different Amazon lake environments are important in the carbon accumulation rates, which may have altered because of the climate changes of the recent millennia.