Abstract
Abstract. Despite an increasing recognition of the importance of extreme rainfall events for organic carbon export to inland waters, little attention has been paid to the export and reactivity of particulate organic carbon (POC) and dissolved organic C (DOC) in mountainous headwater watersheds under monsoon climates. To investigate environmental implications of storm-enhanced export of POC and DOC in mountainous headwater streams, we examined the relationships between storm magnitude and C export from a forested watershed in the Haean Basin, South Korea, during 13 storm events over 4 years and compared potentials of DOC and POC for biodegradation and disinfection byproduct (DBP) formation during an extreme rainfall event with a total rainfall of 209 mm. Event mean concentrations and export of POC increased nonlinearly above thresholds of precipitation and discharge, far exceeding the relatively small increases of DOC. The export of POC during a few storm events with a total rainfall above 200 mm per event exceeded the annual organic C export during dry years. During the 209 mm storm event, concentrations of total trihalomethanes formed by POC-derived dissolved components changed synchronously with POC concentrations, exhibiting lower levels than those formed by DOC. During a 30-day incubation at 25 °C, DOC exported during peak flow exhibited rapid biodegradation of labile components within 7 days. In contrast, the concentrations of DOC leached from POC gradually increased following the initial decline. Gradual transformation of POC-derived dissolved materials resulted in greater increases in the intensity of fulvic- and humic-like fluorescent components compared to the DOC treatment. The results highlight the significance of extreme rainfall events as "hot moments" for POC export from mountainous watersheds and also suggest that storm pulses of POC can provide potential sources of reactive organic components that can rapidly biodegrade and form DBPs after being released into headwater streams.
Highlights
The transport of dissolved organic C (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) along streams and rivers represents a crucial linkage between land and oceans in the global C cycle (Cole et al, 2007; Battin et al, 2008; Aufdenkampe et al, 2011)
Repeated high-frequency storm event samplings at 2-hour intervals allowed for a systematic comparison of DOC and POC export in the mountainous headwater stream during 13 storm events over 4 years
The results show that POC export increases nonlinearly above the thresholds of precipitation and discharge, significantly exceeding the relatively small increases of DOC
Summary
The transport of dissolved organic C (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) along streams and rivers represents a crucial linkage between land and oceans in the global C cycle (Cole et al, 2007; Battin et al, 2008; Aufdenkampe et al, 2011). Recent syntheses have provided higher estimates for the riverine C export, ranging from 0.8 to 0.9 Pg C, and it has been suggested that the amount of C delivered to the oceans might represent only a fraction of the total C received by inland waters (Battin et al, 2009; Aufdenkampe et al, 2011). Studies conducted in steep terrain such as the Himalayas have assumed mountainous rivers as a pipe transferring organic C passively to the ocean and resulting in a preservation of terrigenous C in bottom sediments along the coastal margins (Galy et al, 2007), little is known about the dynamics of POC in mountainous headwater streams receiving storm pulses of POC
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