Publication Date:
2022-05-26
Description:
© The Author(s), 2015. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Biogeosciences 12 (2015): 5597-5618, doi:10.5194/bg-12-5597-2015.
Description:
Rapid changes in the volume and sources of discharge during the spring freshet lead to pronounced variations in biogeochemical properties in snowmelt-dominated river basins. We used daily sampling during the onset of the freshet in the Fraser River (southwestern Canada) in 2013 to identify rapid changes in the flux and composition of dissolved material, with a focus on dissolved organic matter (DOM). Previous time series sampling (at twice monthly frequency) of dissolved inorganic species in the Fraser River has revealed smooth seasonal transitions in concentrations of major ions and tracers of water and dissolved load sources between freshet and base flow periods. In contrast, daily sampling reveals a significant increase in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration (200 to 550 μmol L−1) occurring over a matter of days, accompanied by a shift in DOM optical properties, indicating a transition towards higher molecular weight, more aromatic DOM composition. Comparable changes in DOM composition, but not concentration, occur at other times of year, underscoring the role of seasonal climatology in DOM cycling. A smaller data set of total and dissolved Hg concentrations also showed variability during the spring freshet period, although dissolved Hg dynamics appear to be driven by factors beyond DOM as characterized here. The time series records of DOC and particulate organic carbon (POC) concentrations indicate that the Fraser River exports 0.25–0.35 % of its annual basin net primary productivity. The snowmelt-dominated hydrology, forested land cover, and minimal reservoir impoundment of the Fraser River may influence the DOC yield of the basin, which is high relative to the nearby Columbia River and of similar magnitude to that of the Yukon River to the north. Anticipated warming and decreased snowfall due to climate changes in the region may cause an overall decrease in DOM flux from the Fraser River to the coastal ocean in coming decades
Description:
This work was partially supported by a
WHOI Ocean Ventures Fund award to BMV and NSF grants
EAR-1226818 to BPE, OCE-0851015 to TIE, BPE, and VG,
and OCE-0851101 to RGMS, and support to BPE from Jane and
James Orr.
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Format:
application/msword
Format:
image/tiff
Format:
application/pdf
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