Title
Geochemistry of organic-rich river waters in Amazonia: Insights on weathering processes of intertropical cratonic terrain
Date Issued
01 February 2016
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Universidade de São Paulo
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
In this study, eight organic-rich rivers that flow through the Brazilian craton in the southwestern Amazon rainforest are investigated. This investigation is the first of its type in this area and focuses on the effects of lithology, long-term weathering, thick soils, forest cover and hydrological period on the dissolved load compositions in rivers draining cratonic terrain. The major dissolved ion concentrations, alkalinity (TAlk), SiO2, trace element concentrations, and Sr isotope contents in the water were determined between April 2009 and January 2010. In addition, the isotopic values of oxygen and hydrogen were determined between 2011 and 2013. Overall, the river water is highly dilute and dominated by the major dissolved elements TAlk, SiO2 and K+ and the major dissolved trace elements Al, Fe, Ba, Mn, P, Zn and Sr, which exhibit large temporal and spatial variability and are closely correlated with the silicatic bedrock and hydrology. Additionally, rainwater and recycled water vapor and the size of the basin contribute to the geochemistry of the waters. The total weathering flux estimated from our results is 2-4 t km-2 yr-1, which is one of the lowest fluxes in the world. The CO2 consumption rate is approximately 21-61 103 mol km-2 yr-1, which is higher than expected given the stability of the felsic to basic igneous and metamorphic to siliciclastic basement rocks and the thick tropical soil cover. Thus, weathering of the cratonic terrain under intertropical humid conditions is still an important consumer of CO2.
Start page
22
End page
35
Volume
65
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Geoquímica, Geofísica
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84947275525
Source
Applied Geochemistry
ISSN of the container
08832927
Sponsor(s)
This research was supported by CNPq ( Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico , grant no. 620039/2008-6 , 302296/2010-0 and 471971/2010-3 . A. S. Lages thanks CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) for awarding him a scholarship. We also thank the anonymous referees that provided helpful suggestions for improving the manuscript.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus