Carbonate mineral dissolution and photosynthesis-induced precipitation regulate inorganic carbon cycling along the karst river-reservoir continuum, SW China

Abstract

Damming alters the biogeochemical cycling of carbon along river systems. However, the effects of river damming on the fate and transport of particulate and dissolved inorganic carbon (PIC and DIC) remain unclear. Here, we use dual isotope (13C and 14C) compositions, water chemistry, and electron microscopy to unravel the processes controlling the in-reservoir cycling of inorganic carbon in a river-reservoir system of a karst region of southwest China. From the reservoir’s fluvial to lentic zone, δ13CPIC decreases from −2.2 ‰ to −7.6 ‰, whereas the PIC radiocarbon age drops from 11,512 to 2,027 years B.P. Electron microscopy images and water chemistry provide further evidence of in-reservoir photosynthesis-induced carbonate precipitation of autochthonous PIC in the water column. Although part of PIC is dissolved into DIC in the reservoir’s hypolimnion, the contribution of carbonate minerals (allochthonous PIC) accounted for 41 % of PIC based on an isotopic mass balance model. This indicates that the precipitation rate of autochthonous PIC was greater part of carbon cycle in the reservoir. Moreover, the autochthonous PIC accounted for 61 % of the PIC and its dissolution accounted for 50 % of the DIC and the high CO2 efflux in the water discharging from the reservoir. The results shed light on the important role of autochthonous PIC in carbon cycling in karst river-reservoir systems. With continued dam construction in karst areas, the role of in-reservoir PIC production and dissolution on the riverine carbon cycle deserves more attention.