Factors driving the biogeochemical budget of the Amazon River and its statistical modelling

Author(s)

Bustillo, Vincent ^{[1, 2]} ; Victoria, Reynaldo Luiz ^{[1, 3]} ; Sousa de Moura, Jose Mauro ^[4] ; Victoria, Daniel de Castro ^[5] ; Andrade Toledo, Andre Marcondes ^[6] ; Collicchio, Erich ^[7]

Affiliation

^[1] Ctr Energia Nucl Agr, LGTI, Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Orleans, Univ Tours, Inst Sci Terre Orleans, UFR Sci & Tech, UMR CNRS Insu 6113, F-37200 Tours - France

^[3] USP ESALQ, NUPEGEL, BR-13418900 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Fed Oeste Para, BR-68035110 Santarem, PA - Brazil

^[5] Embrapa Monitoramento Satelite, BR-13070115 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[6] Univ Fed Mato Grosso, UFMT, BR-78735910 Rondonopolis - Brazil

^[7] Univ Fed Tocantins, AgroUnitins, BR-77001090 Palmas - Brazil

• Document type: Review article
• Source: COMPTES RENDUS GEOSCIENCE; v. 343, n. 4, p. 261-277, APR 2011.
• Web of Science Citations: 6

Abstract

The seasonal and interannual fluctuations of the biogeochemical budget (solutes, suspended matter, isotopes) of the Amazon River basin were analyzed, with a special focus on 44 physicochemical parameters monitored over the period 1982-1984 during the Carbon in the AMazon River Experiment (CAMREX) project. The relevant factors driving this variability were identified and sorted through the implementation of a statistical-regressive model coupled to variance analysis. Basically, the compositional fluctuations in the Amazon River are related (1) to the variable contribution of major tributaries (variable regional source) to the river flow but also (2) to the variable contribution of hydrological sources, (3) to river processes, i.e. in-stream diagenesis and sediment dynamics and (4) to the hydrological budget of the floodplains. Their respective contributions to the variability of chemical signals observed in the stream waters depend on which parameter was investigated but their combination explains on average 85% of the observed variability. The variability related to regional sources was captured by the compared measures of flow discharge and biogeochemical fluxes at the outlet of the major tributaries. The variability of hydrological sources was described by the variable contribution of three runoffs of distinct but constant composition: forwarded direct runoff, delayed floodplain runoff and baseflow. Several methods were tested to depict the seasonal and interannual variations of their individual discharges. Biologically-mediated processes were related to a hydrobiological index I(BIO) = {[}O(2)]-{[}CO(2)] which allows tracking the nature of the dominant ecological regime (autotrophy vs. heterotrophy). The alteration of chemical signals related to the intermittent discharge of the floodplains (where specific processes occur such as: gas exchanges at the air-water interface, sorption of dissolved organic matter, chemical weathering, deposition vs. remobilization of sediments, etc.) was simulated by taking into account the default of hydrological balance between inflows and outflows, used as a marker of floodplains discharge. This analysis shows that the chemical baseline observed in the waters of the Amazon River is mostly acquired upstream from the junction of major tributaries with the Amazon main reach. (C) 2011 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 05/58884-5 - A large-scale synthetic model applied to the hydroclimatology and eco-geodynamics of the Amazon River basin
• Grantee: Vincent Bustillo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral