Note: Intro -- Contents -- List of Contributors -- Preface -- Section I Introduction -- 1 An introduction to the biogeochemistry of river-coastal systems -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Riverine inputs of particulate and dissolved organic matter to the coastal ocean -- 2.1. The conundrum of missing OC -- 3. Transport processes and controls on OM preservation -- 4. CO2 fluxes in coastal waters -- 5. Possible links between coastal water CO2 flux and riverine loadings -- 6. Directions for future research -- Section II Water and sediment dynamics from source to sink -- 2 Water and sediment dynamics through the wetlands and coastal water bodies of large river deltaic plains -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Mechanisms of water and sediment input to the delta plain -- 2.1. Avulsion and distributary channel evolution -- 2.2. Overbank and crevasse processes -- 2.3. Groundwater and rainwater input -- 3. Processes and simulation of water and sediment circulation in deltaic plains and estuaries -- 3.1. Controlling physical processes -- 3.2. Simulation of water and sediment processes -- 3.3. Numerical modeling tools -- 4. The role of wetlands -- 4.1. Introduction to the ecogeomorphology of deltaic plain wetlands -- 4.2. Controls on deltaic wetland development -- 4.3. Large river wetlands as particle sources, sinks, and loci of particle transformation -- 5. Conclusions -- 3 Freshwater and sediment dispersal in large river plumes -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The anatomy of a river plume -- 2.1. Salinity space -- 2.2. The estuary -- 2.3. The near-field plume -- 2.4. The mid-field plume, or the bulge -- 2.5. Far-field plume -- 2.6. Very far-field plume -- 3. River plume classification -- 4. Sediment dispersal -- 4.1. Sediment dynamics -- 4.1.1. Buoyancy effect -- 4.1.2. Flocculation and hindered settling -- 4.2. Riverine input and carrying capacity. , 4.3. The near-, mid-, and far-field dispersal -- 5. Concluding remarks -- 4 Shelf and slope sedimentation associated with large deltaic systems -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Overview of large deltaic systems -- 3. Amazon: a subaqueous delta clinoform system -- 4. Ganges-Brahmaputra: a combination of influences -- 5. Mississippi-Atchafalaya: a proximal accumulation-dominated system -- 6. Fluvial and marine controls on large deltaic systems -- 7. Geological framework and human influence on large deltaic systems -- 8. Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- 5 Changjiang (Yangtze) and Huanghe (Yellow) Rivers: historical reconstruction of land-use change and sediment load to the sea -- 1. Regional settings of the Changjiang and Huanghe River basins -- 1.1. Topographic settings -- 1.2. Hydrologic settings -- 1.3. Surface lithology of the river basins -- 2. Human impacts on the river basins and land-use change -- 3. Anthropogenic alteration of the rivers since the 1950s -- 3.1. Variation of the Changjiang sediment flux since the 1950s -- 3.2. Variation of the Huanghe sediment flux since the 1950s -- 4. Roles of climate change and human activities on river systems -- 5. The future of the mega-deltas of Changjiang and Huanghe -- 6. Conclusion -- 6 Flux and fate of the Yellow (Huanghe) River-derived materials to the sea: impacts of climate change and human activities -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Historical changes of the Yellow River water and sediment discharge -- 2.1. Sediment fluxes on the millennial scale -- 2.2. Sediment fluxes on the decadal scale -- 2.3. Causes of the recent decrease of the water and sediment discharge -- 2.4. Impacts of the recent-year water discharges and sediment loads decreasing -- 3. Fate of yellow river sediments in the Bohai and Yellow Seas -- 3.1. Rapid accumulations near the river mouth: proximal deltaic depocenter. , 3.2. Longshore transport to the Yellow Sea: distal mud depocenter -- 4. Conclusions -- 7 Carbon dioxide dynamics and fluxes in coastal waters influenced by river plumes -- 1. Introduction -- 2. CO2 degassing flux in inner estuaries -- 3. Distribution pattern of pCO2 in river plumes and control mechanisms -- 3.1. River carbonate contents and the associated buffering capacity changes during river-ocean mixing -- 3.2. CO2 in the Changjiang River plume -- 3.3. CO2 in the Mississippi River plume -- 3.4. CO2 in the Amazon River plume -- 4. A tentative estimate of global river-plume CO2 flux -- Acknowledgment -- 8 Impacts of watershed processes on exported riverine organic carbon -- 1. Introduction -- 2. POC Sources -- 2.1. Vegetation -- 2.2. Soils -- 2.3. The deeper regolith and geomorphic processes -- 2.4. In-channel and lowland sources and processes -- 3. Climate impacts on riverine OC -- 4. Predicting the exported riverine organic signature -- 5. Summary -- Acknowledgments -- 9 Black carbon in coastal and large river systems -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Sources of black carbon -- 2.1. Atmospheric BC -- 2.2. Soil BC -- 2.3. Dissolved BC -- 3. Isolation, quantification, and source discrimination methods for black carbon -- 3.1. Visual methods for BC quantification -- 3.2. Chemical and thermal BC quantification methods -- 3.3. Isolation of BC in the dissolved phase -- 3.4. Source discrimination of BC -- 4. Black carbon in large river systems -- 4.1. Fluvial BC -- 4.2. Global pyrogenic PAH discharge and comparison with BC -- 5. Fate of black carbon -- 5.1. Storage BC in the ocean -- 5.2. Degradation of BC -- 6. Conclusions -- Section III Eastern hemisphere systems -- 10 Carbon biogeochemistry in the continuum of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River watersheds across the East China Sea -- 1. Introduction. , 2. Characters of the land-source influx and open boundary processes -- 2.1. Dissolved inorganic carbon and CH4 -- 2.2. Dissolved organic carbon and particulate organic carbon -- 2.3. Pigments -- 3. Major pathways of carbon cycle and influence factors -- 3.1. DIC and CH4 -- 3.2. DOC and POC -- 3.3. Carbon fate inferred from pigments -- 4. Biogeochemical budgets and feedbacks to open ocean and atmosphere -- 5. Evidence of historical records -- 6. Biogeochemical provinces of the Changjiang estuary - ECS in the perspective of carbon biogeochemistry -- 7. Concluding remarks and future work -- Acknowledgments -- 11 Dynamics of phytoplankton blooms and nutrient limitation in the Pearl River (Zhujiang) estuarine coastal waters -- 1. Introduction -- 2. General geographic and oceanographic settings of the Pearl River estuary -- 3. Processes in estuarine and coastal waters -- 4. Spatial and seasonal variability of phytoplankton biomass -- 4.1. River outflow controlled variability -- 4.2. Tidal cycle regulated variability -- 4.3. Wind event driven variability -- 5. Dynamics of nutrients and nutrient limitation variability -- 6. Potential effects of climate change on eutrophication -- 7. Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- 12 The Mekong River and its influence on the nutrient chemistry and matter cycling in the Vietnamese coastal zone -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Climatology of the Southeast Asian monsoon region -- 3. Hydrography of the Vietnamese coastal waters -- 4. The Mekong River and river plume -- 5. Biochemistry and productivity in the Mekong plume and coastal waters -- 5.1. Phytoplankton species composition -- 5.2. Primary production and nitrogen fixation -- 5.3. Food web and zooplankton nutrition -- 6. How does this compare with other tropical estuaries? -- 7. Future of the Mekong estuary and its catchment -- 8. Conclusion -- Acknowledgment. , 13 Physical dynamics and biogeochemistry of the Pearl River plume -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Basics of the Pearl River, estuary, and the shelf -- 2.1. The Pearl River -- 2.1.1. Basics -- 2.1.2. Precipitation and river discharge -- 2.2. Pearl River estuary -- 2.2.1. Basics -- 2.2.2. Circulation in the estuary -- 2.2.2.1. Gravitational circulation -- 2.2.2.2. Subtidal circulation -- 2.2.2.3. Intra-tidal circulation -- 2.2.3. Hydrology and biogeochemistry of the PRE -- 2.2.4. Conceptual summary and about the mixing behavior: Conservative and nonconservative -- 2.3. Northern South China Sea Shelf -- 2.3.1. Basics -- 2.3.2. Shelf circulation in the northern South China Sea -- 2.3.2.1. Upwelling circulation in summer (wet season) -- 2.3.2.2. Downwelling circulation in winter (dry season) -- 3. Physical dynamics and biogeochemistry of the plume -- 3.1. Plume over the Shelf -- 3.2. Plume effect on the shelf circulation -- 3.3. Biogeochemistry of the river plumes -- 3.3.1. Case of May 2001 -- 3.3.2. Case of August 2008 -- 3.3.3. Comparison between 2001 and 2008 -- 4. Coupling the physical dynamics and biogeochemistry -- 4.1. Mixing of different water masses -- 4.2. Coupled physical-biogeochemical model -- 5. Summary and perspectives -- Acknowledgment -- 14 The evolution of carbon signatures carried by the Ganges-Brahmaputra river system: a source-to-sink perspective -- 1. Introduction to the Ganges-Brahmaputra river system -- 2. Reworking and deposition of fluvial sediment and organic carbon in the Bay of Bengal -- 3. Characterization of organic carbon signatures of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and the Bengal Fan -- 4. Carbon sources, transformations, and storage in the Himalayan range -- 5. Carbon sources, transformations, and storage in the Ganges floodplain -- 6. Carbon sources, transformations, and storage in the Brahmaputra floodplain. , 7. Carbon export from the G-B basin to the Bengal Fan.