The influence of carbonate precipitation on riverine magnesium isotope signals: New constrains from Jinsha River Basin, Southeast Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Abstract Magnesium isotope behavior in dissolution and precipitation reactions during chemical weathering have been well documented. However, mechanisms of mineral dissolution and precipitation impact on the riverine Mg isotope composition under different climatic and geology background are not well constrained, which limits Mg isotope application in weathering research. Mg isotopic compositions for solute and suspended sediments in Jinsha River Basin, located in Tibetan Plateau, China, were examined to address this issue. The δ26Mg values for dissolved loads range from −1.67‰ to −0.5‰, and the suspended loads show systematically heavier Mg isotope compositions (−1.15‰ to −0.06‰). Conservative mixing between different rock weathering end-members fails to fully explain Mg isotopic composition variation of Jinsha River waters based on mass balance and mixing model with the river geochemistry data. Mg in rivers draining dominantly carbonate and evaporite is isotopically heavier compared with the value of catchment bedrocks, and water pH and δ26Mg values are negatively correlated in carbonate (calcite and dolomite) oversaturated river waters, which suggests the precipitation of secondary carbonate as an important mechanism driving the δ26Mg of dissolved loads heavier. For carbonate unsaturated waters, Mg concentrations and δ26Mg values are intermediate between those of silicate dominated basins and carbonate oversaturated waters. The results suggest two possible different mechanisms controlling river solute δ26Mg values: fractionation during carbonate precipitation incorporating of Mg; and conservative mixing between a solute end-member formed from carbonate precipitation and end-members from rock weathering. This study provides new evidence and insights in carbonate precipitation processes regulating river Mg isotope signature and its potential influence on Mg cycling.