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- Häggi, C., et al.
(författare)
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Negligible Quantities of Particulate Low-Temperature Pyrogenic Carbon Reach the Atlantic Ocean via the Amazon River
- 2021
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Ingår i: Global Biogeochemical Cycles. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 0886-6236 .- 1944-9224. ; 35:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Particulate pyrogenic carbon (PyC) transported by rivers and aerosols, and deposited in marine sediments, is an important part of the carbon cycle. The chemical composition of PyC is temperature dependent and levoglucosan is a source-specific burning marker used to trace low-temperature PyC. Levoglucosan associated to particulate material has been shown to be preserved during riverine transport and marine deposition in high- and mid-latitudes, but it is yet unknown if this is also the case for (sub)tropical areas, where 90% of global PyC is produced. Here, we investigate transport and deposition of levoglucosan in suspended and riverbed sediments from the Amazon River system and adjacent marine deposition areas. We show that the Amazon River exports negligible amounts of levoglucosan and that concentrations in sediments from the main Amazon tributaries are not related to long-term mean catchment-wide fire activity. Levoglucosan concentrations in marine sediments offshore the Amazon Estuary are positively correlated to total organic content regardless of terrestrial or marine origin, supporting the notion that association of suspended or dissolved PyC to biogenic particles is critical in the preservation of PyC. We estimate that 0.5-10 x 10(6) g yr(-1) of levoglucosan is exported by the Amazon River. This represents only 0.5-10 ppm of the total exported PyC and thereby an insignificant fraction, indicating that riverine derived levoglucosan and low-temperature PyC in the tropics are almost completely degraded before deposition. Hence, we suggest caution in using levoglucosan as tracer for past fire activity in tropical settings near rivers.
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| 2. |
- Sawakuchi, A. O., et al.
(författare)
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Luminescence of quartz and feldspar fingerprints provenance and correlates with the source area denudation in the Amazon River basin
- 2018
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Ingår i: Earth and Planetary Science Letters. - : Elsevier. - 0012-821X .- 1385-013X. ; 492, s. 152-162
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Amazon region hosts the world's largest watershed spanning from high elevation Andean terrains to lowland cratonic shield areas in tropical South America. This study explores variations in optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals in suspended silt and riverbed sands retrieved from major Amazon rivers. These rivers drain Pre-Cambrian to Cenozoic source rocks in areas with contrasting denudation rates. In contrast to the previous studies, we do not observe an increase in the OSL sensitivity of quartz with transport distance; for example, Tapajos and Xingu Rivers show more sensitive quartz than Solimbes and Madeira Rivers, even though the latter have a significantly larger catchment area and longer sediment transport distance. Interestingly, high sensitivity quartz is observed in rivers draining relatively stable Central Brazil and Guiana shield areas (denudation rate xi = 0.04 mm yr(-1)), while low sensitivity quartz occurs in less stable Andean terrains (xi = 0.24 mm yr(-1)). An apparent linear correlation between quartz OSL sensitivity and denudation rate suggests that OSL sensitivity may be used as a proxy for erosion rates in the Amazon basin. Furthermore, luminescence sensitivity measured in sand or silt arises from the same mineral components (quartz and feldspar) and clearly discriminates between Andean and shield sediments, avoiding the grain size bias in provenance analysis. These results have implications for using luminescence sensitivity as a proxy for Andean and shield contributions in the stratigraphic record, providing a new tool to reconstruct past drainage configurations within the Amazon basin.
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