Abstract
Large rivers are important links between continents and oceans for material flows that have a global impact on marine biogeochemistry. Processes in the catchment areas of large rivers can affect the flow of solutes into the global ocean. The goal was to determine how the concentration of individual components of nutrients in the rivers of Eastern Siberia changes depending on the active layer thickness of the permafrost (ALT) and to elucidate whether the ALT is a factor that can control nutrient flux to the Arctic Ocean. The method of canonical correlation analysis was applied to the data on the concentration of nutrients in the 12 largest rivers of Eastern Siberia and the active layer thickness in their catchments. We found that the concentration of nutrients such as ammonium ion (NH4) and total phosphorus (Ptotal) in river waters is higher in catchments with a deeper active layer. The waters of the mountain rivers in the south of the region (the Chara and Vitim rivers) are the richest in nutrients. Arctic rivers such as the Indigirka and Anabar were low in nutrients. The permeability of soils also affects the discharge of nutrients into rivers with surface runoff. We conclude that in the future, in the context of global climatic changes and the projected deepening of the active layer throughout the permafrost zone of the Northern Hemisphere, an increase in the supply of nutrients to the Arctic Ocean is possible.
Highlights
Large rivers are important connections between continents and oceans for material flows that have a global impact on marine biogeochemistry
The analysis included the set of seven variables characterizing the concentration of nutrients in the studied rivers (NH4, mg L−1 ; NO2, μg L−1 ; NO3, mg L−1 ; PO4, μg L−1 ; Ptotal, μg L−1 ; Si, mg L−1 ; Fetotal, mg L−1 ) paired with a set of three variables of active layer thickness of permafrost (ALT)
The results of the analysis confirm that for the territory of Eastern Siberia, there is a relationship between the ALT of permafrost on the catchment and concentration of nutrients in river waters
Summary
Large rivers are important connections between continents and oceans for material flows that have a global impact on marine biogeochemistry. Processes in drainage basins of large rivers can affect the flow of dissolved substances from continents into the World. The study of processes on the catchments of large rivers is important in the context of global changes [1]. The natural process of transfer of soluble biogeochemical components from soils to river waters occurs due to surface runoff. Under permafrost conditions, this process can be significantly influenced by such factors as the active layer thickness of permafrost (ALT). ALT in the study area ranges from 0.1–3.0 m and represents the uppermost permafrost horizon, subject to seasonal thawing in the warm season and freezing at subzero air temperatures
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