Weathering Processes in the Min Jiang: Major Elements, $$ {}^{87}{\text{Sr/}}{}^{86}{\text{Sr}},\;\delta {}^{34}{\text{S}}_{{\text{SO}}_{\text{4}} } ,\;{\text{and}}\;\delta {}^{18}{\text{O}}_{{\text{SO}}_{\text{4}} } $$

Abstract

We investigated the dissolved major elements, $$ {}^{87}{\text{Sr/}}{}^{86}{\text{Sr}},\;\delta {}^{34}{\text{S}}_{{\text{SO}}_{\text{4}} } ,\;{\text{and}}\;\delta {}^{18}{\text{O}}_{{\text{SO}}_{\text{4}} } $$ composition of the Min Jiang, a headwater tributary of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River). A forward calculation method was applied to quantify the relative contribution to the dissolved load from rain, evaporite, carbonate, and silicate reservoirs. Input from carbonate weathering dominated the major element composition (58–93%) and that from silicate weathering ranged from 2 to 18% in unperturbed Min Jiang watersheds. Most samples were supersaturated with respect to calcite, and the CO2 partial pressures were similar to or up to ∼5 times higher than atmospheric levels. The Sr concentrations in our samples were low (1.3–2.5 μM) with isotopic composition ranging from 0.7108 to 0.7127, suggesting some contribution from felsic silicates. The Si/(Na* + K) ratios ranged from 0.5 to 2.5, which indicate low to moderate silicate weathering intensity. The $$ \delta {}^{34}{\text{S}}_{{\text{SO}}_{\text{4}} } \;{\text{and}}\;\delta {}^{18}{\text{O}}_{{\text{SO}}_{\text{4}} } $$ for five select samples showed that the source of dissolved sulfate was combustion of locally consumed coal. The silicate weathering rates were 23–181 × 103 mol/km2/year, and the CO2 consumption rates were 31–246 × 103 mol/km2/year, which are moderate on a global basis. Upon testing various climatic and geomorphic factors for correlation with the CO2 consumption rate, the best correlation coefficients found were with water temperature (r 2 = 0.284, p = 0.009), water discharge (r 2 = 0.253, p = 0.014), and relief (r 2 = 0.230, p = 0.019).