Vincent Bustillo

Choosing methods for estimating dissolved and particulate riverine fluxes from monthly sampling

Abstract In discrete water quality surveys, riverine fluxes are associated with unknown uncertainties (biases and imprecisions). Annual flux errors have been determined from the generation of discrete surveys by Monte Carlo sorting for monthly sampling, from 10 years of daily records (120 records). Eight calculation methods were tested for suspended particulate matter, dissolved solids and dissolved and total nutrients in medium to large basins (103 to 106 km2) covering a wide range of hydrological conditions and riverine biogeochemistry. The performance of each method was analysed first by type of riverine material, which appeared to be much less pertinent than the flux variability matrix. The latter combines the river flow duration in two percent of time (W2%) and the truncated exponent (b50sup) defining the relationship of concentration vs discharge (C–Q) at higher flows (C = aQb50sup). As flux variability increases (high W2% and/or high b50sup), averaging and rating curve methods become less efficient compared to hydrograph separation methods. Flux biases and imprecisions were plotted in the [W2%, b50sup] matrix for discrete monthly surveys. Editor Z. W. Kundzewicz Citation Raymond, S., Moatar, F., Meybeck, M., and Bustillo, V., 2013. Choosing methods for estimating dissolved and particulate riverine fluxes from monthly sampling. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (6), 1326–1339.

Biogeochemistry of the Amazonian Floodplains: Insights from Six End-Member Mixing Models*

The influence of Amazonian floodplains on the hydrological, sedimentary, and biogeochemical river budget was investigated along the Vargem Grande–Obidos reach, by applying six mixing models based on variable regional and/or variable hydrological sources. By comparing the output of many different models designed for different purposes, the nature and the magnitude of processes linking water and biogeochemical budgets of the Amazonian floodplains were clarified. This study reveals that most of the chemical baseline of the Amazon River basin is acquired before the studied 2000-km Amazonian reach. However, the tight connection between the hydrograph stage of the river and the chemical signals provides insightful information on the dynamics of its floodplains. The chemical expression of biotic and abiotic processes occurring in the Amazonian floodplains can be particularly perceived during falling waters. It appears delayed in time compared to the maximum extension of submerged area, because the alternating water circulation polarity (filling versus emptying) between the main channel and the adjacent floodplains determines delayed emptying of floodplains during falling waters. It results also in a longer time of residence in the hydrograph network, which strengthens the rate of transformation of transiting materials and solutes. Biotic and biologically mediated processes tend to accentuate changes in river water chemistry initiated upstream, in each subbasin, along river corridors, indicating that processes operating downstream prolong those from upstream (e.g., floodplains of the large tributaries). Conversely, the flood wave propagation tends to lessen the seasonal variability as a result of the water storage in the floodplains, which admixes waters of distinct origins (in time and space). The morphology of floodplains, determining the deposition and the diagenesis of the sediments as well as the variable extension of submerged areas or the chronology of floodplains storage/emptying, appears to be the main factor controlling the floodplains biogeodynamics. By coupling classical end-member mixing models (providing insight on hydrological source) with a variable regional contribution scheme, relevant information on the biogeochemical budget of the Amazonian floodplains can be achieved.