Mineralogy as a potential driver of irregular radiocarbon patterns among Icelandic fluvial carbon pools
Fluvial export of organic carbon (OC) from the terrestrial biosphere to the ocean forms a key component of the global carbon cycle. Carbon sources and transformations along the land–ocean aquatic continuum are dynamic with a complex interplay between particulate and dissolved organic and inorganic c...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ada45c |
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| author | Nora Gallarotti Lisa Bröder Julie Lattaud Stephan Wartenweiler Negar Haghipour Timothy I Eglinton |
| author_facet | Nora Gallarotti Lisa Bröder Julie Lattaud Stephan Wartenweiler Negar Haghipour Timothy I Eglinton |
| author_sort | Nora Gallarotti |
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| description | Fluvial export of organic carbon (OC) from the terrestrial biosphere to the ocean forms a key component of the global carbon cycle. Carbon sources and transformations along the land–ocean aquatic continuum are dynamic with a complex interplay between particulate and dissolved organic and inorganic carbon pools (POC, DOC, DIC). Radiocarbon dating serves as a valuable tool, providing crucial insights into turnover and residence times within these pools. However, the myriad of carbon sources, including ancient ‘petrogenic’ OC from sedimentary rocks or freshly assimilated OC derived from aquatic in-situ production, makes it challenging to interpret ^14 C signatures in the context of terrestrial biospheric OC turnover and residence times. Icelandic rivers and streams offer an opportunity to examine biospheric carbon dynamics due to the virtual absence of petrogenic OC (e.g., shales, carbonates) in underlying bedrock. Our study of 43 rivers and streams, collectively draining approximately 42% of Iceland’s surface, revealed that radiocarbon signatures of POC largely align with global river patterns but lacked the presence of significantly old ( ^14 C-depleted) carbon likely reflecting the absence of ancient petrogenic OC. In contrast, DOC tended to be older compared to global rivers and the corresponding POC and DIC pools in Icelandic rivers. These observations challenge the paradigm that riverine POC generally exhibits longer turnover and residence times than DOC. After excluding other potential factors, we argue that this apparent age inversion among carbon pools in Icelandic rivers may reflect retention of DOC prior to its release to the aquatic continuum through interactions with high surface area minerals prevalent in the volcanic soils of Iceland. This finding may be relevant for other fluvial systems draining volcanic bedrock and have broader implications regarding biospheric OC dynamics in rivers and streams globally. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9fc65f1117ea40238a2cfe45bd54af7c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-9fc65f1117ea40238a2cfe45bd54af7c2025-01-14T18:13:18ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262025-01-0120202401310.1088/1748-9326/ada45cMineralogy as a potential driver of irregular radiocarbon patterns among Icelandic fluvial carbon poolsNora Gallarotti0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2993-8804Lisa Bröder1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5454-7883Julie Lattaud2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8089-6502Stephan Wartenweiler3https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6560-1113Negar Haghipour4Timothy I Eglinton5Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel , Basel, SwitzerlandDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , Zurich, Switzerland; Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , Zurich, SwitzerlandFluvial export of organic carbon (OC) from the terrestrial biosphere to the ocean forms a key component of the global carbon cycle. Carbon sources and transformations along the land–ocean aquatic continuum are dynamic with a complex interplay between particulate and dissolved organic and inorganic carbon pools (POC, DOC, DIC). Radiocarbon dating serves as a valuable tool, providing crucial insights into turnover and residence times within these pools. However, the myriad of carbon sources, including ancient ‘petrogenic’ OC from sedimentary rocks or freshly assimilated OC derived from aquatic in-situ production, makes it challenging to interpret ^14 C signatures in the context of terrestrial biospheric OC turnover and residence times. Icelandic rivers and streams offer an opportunity to examine biospheric carbon dynamics due to the virtual absence of petrogenic OC (e.g., shales, carbonates) in underlying bedrock. Our study of 43 rivers and streams, collectively draining approximately 42% of Iceland’s surface, revealed that radiocarbon signatures of POC largely align with global river patterns but lacked the presence of significantly old ( ^14 C-depleted) carbon likely reflecting the absence of ancient petrogenic OC. In contrast, DOC tended to be older compared to global rivers and the corresponding POC and DIC pools in Icelandic rivers. These observations challenge the paradigm that riverine POC generally exhibits longer turnover and residence times than DOC. After excluding other potential factors, we argue that this apparent age inversion among carbon pools in Icelandic rivers may reflect retention of DOC prior to its release to the aquatic continuum through interactions with high surface area minerals prevalent in the volcanic soils of Iceland. This finding may be relevant for other fluvial systems draining volcanic bedrock and have broader implications regarding biospheric OC dynamics in rivers and streams globally.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ada45cfluvial carbon transportradiocarbonIcelandic riversvolcanic soils |
| spellingShingle | Nora Gallarotti Lisa Bröder Julie Lattaud Stephan Wartenweiler Negar Haghipour Timothy I Eglinton Mineralogy as a potential driver of irregular radiocarbon patterns among Icelandic fluvial carbon pools Environmental Research Letters fluvial carbon transport radiocarbon Icelandic rivers volcanic soils |
| title | Mineralogy as a potential driver of irregular radiocarbon patterns among Icelandic fluvial carbon pools |
| title_full | Mineralogy as a potential driver of irregular radiocarbon patterns among Icelandic fluvial carbon pools |
| title_fullStr | Mineralogy as a potential driver of irregular radiocarbon patterns among Icelandic fluvial carbon pools |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mineralogy as a potential driver of irregular radiocarbon patterns among Icelandic fluvial carbon pools |
| title_short | Mineralogy as a potential driver of irregular radiocarbon patterns among Icelandic fluvial carbon pools |
| title_sort | mineralogy as a potential driver of irregular radiocarbon patterns among icelandic fluvial carbon pools |
| topic | fluvial carbon transport radiocarbon Icelandic rivers volcanic soils |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ada45c |
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