Gaillardet
Jerome
Gaillardet
Jerome
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PreprintErosion of organic carbon in the Arctic as a geological carbon dioxide sink( 2015-05-12) Hilton, Robert G. ; Galy, Valier ; Gaillardet, Jerome ; Dellinger, Mathieu ; Bryant, Charlotte ; O'Regan, Matt ; Grocke, Darren R. ; Coxall, Helen ; Bouchez, Julien ; Calmels, DamienSoils of the northern high latitudes store carbon over millennial timescales (103 yrs) and contain approximately double the carbon stock of the atmosphere1-3. Warming and associated permafrost thaw can expose soil organic carbon and result in mineralisation and carbon dioxide (CO2) release4-6. However, some of this soil organic carbon may be eroded and transferred to rivers7-9. If it escapes degradation during river transport and is buried in marine sediments, then it can contribute to a longer-term (>104 yrs), geological CO2 sink8-10. Despite this recognition, the erosional flux and fate of particulate organic carbon (POC) in large rivers at high latitudes remains poorly constrained. Here, we quantify POC source in the Mackenzie River, the main sediment supplier to the Arctic Ocean11,12 and assess its flux and fate. We combine measurements of radiocarbon, stable carbon isotopes and element ratios 26 to correct for rock-derived POC10,13,14. Our samples reveal that the eroded biospheric POC has resided in the basin for millennia, with a mean radiocarbon age of 5800±800 yr, much older than large tropical rivers13,14. Based on the measured biospheric POC content and variability in annual sediment yield15, we calculate a biospheric POC flux of 𝟐. 𝟐𝟐−𝟎𝟎.𝟗𝟗 +𝟏𝟏.𝟑𝟑 TgC yr-1 from the Mackenzie River, three times the CO2 drawdown by silicate weathering16. Offshore we find evidence for efficient terrestrial organic carbon burial over the Holocene, suggesting that erosion of organic carbon-rich, high latitude soils may result in a significant geological CO2 sink.
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PreprintPredominant floodplain over mountain weathering of Himalayan sediments (Ganga basin)( 2011-12-01) Lupker, Maarten ; France-Lanord, Christian ; Galy, Valier ; Lave, Jerome ; Gaillardet, Jerome ; Gajurel, Ananta Prasad ; Guilmette, Caroline ; Rahman, Mustafizur ; Singh, Sunil Kumar ; Sinha, RajivWe present an extensive river sediment dataset covering the Ganga basin from the Himalayan front downstream to the Ganga mainstream in Bangladesh. These sediments were mainly collected over several monsoon seasons and include depth profiles of suspended particles in the river water column. Mineral sorting is the first order control on the chemical composition of river sediments. Taking into account this variability we show that sediments become significantly depleted in mobile elements during their transit through the floodplain. By comparing sediments sampled at the Himalayan front with sediments from the Ganga mainstream in Bangladesh it is possible to budget weathering in the floodplain. Assuming a steady state weathering regime in the floodplain, the weathering of Himalayan sediments in the Gangetic floodplain releases ca. (189 ± 92)109 and (69 ± 22)109 moles/yr of carbonate bound Ca and Mg to the dissolved load, respectively. Silicate weathering releases (53 ± 18)109 and (42 ± 13)109 moles/yr of Na and K while the release of silicate Mg and Ca is substantially lower, between ca. 0 and 20109 moles/yr. Additionally, we show that sediment hydration, [H2O+], is a sensitive tracer of silicate weathering that can be used in continental detrital environments, such as the Ganga basin. Both [H2O+] content and the D/H isotopic composition of sediments increases during floodplain transfer in response to mineral hydrolysis and neoformations associated to weathering reactions. By comparing the chemical composition of river sediments across the floodplain with the composition of the eroded Himalayan source rocks, we suggest that the floodplain is the dominant location of silicate weathering for Na, K and [H2O+]. Overall this work emphasizes the role of the Gangetic floodplain in weathering Himalayan sediments. It also demonstrates how detrital sediments can be used as weathering tracers if mineralogical and chemical sorting effects are properly taken into account.
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ArticleA Rouse-based method to integrate the chemical composition of river sediments : application to the Ganga basin(American Geophysical Union, 2011-11-01) Lupker, Maarten ; France-Lanord, Christian ; Lave, Jerome ; Bouchez, Julien ; Galy, Valier ; Metivier, Francois ; Gaillardet, Jerome ; Lartiges, Bruno ; Mugnier, Jean-LouisThe Ganga River is one of the main conveyors of sediments produced by Himalayan erosion. Determining the flux of elements transported through the system is essential to understand the dynamics of the basin. This is hampered by the chemical heterogeneity of sediments observed both in the water column and under variable hydrodynamic conditions. Using Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) acquisitions with sediment depth profile sampling of the Ganga in Bangladesh we build a simple model to derive the annual flux and grain size distributions of the sediments. The model shows that ca. 390 (±30) Mt of sediments are transported on average each year through the Ganga at Haring Bridge (Bangladesh). Modeled average sediment grain size parameters D50 and D84 are 27 (±4) and 123 (±9) μm, respectively. Grain size parameters are used to infer average chemical compositions of the sediments owing to a strong grain size chemical composition relation. The integrated sediment flux is characterized by low Al/Si and Fe/Si ratios that are close to those inferred for the Himalayan crust. This implies that only limited sequestration occurs in the Gangetic floodplain. The stored sediment flux is estimated to c.a. 10% of the initial Himalayan sediment flux by geochemical mass balance. The associated, globally averaged sedimentation rates in the floodplain are found to be ca. 0.08 mm/yr and yield average Himalayan erosion rate of ca. 0.9 mm/yr. This study stresses the need to carefully address the average composition of river sediments before solving large-scale geochemical budgets.
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PreprintSulfur isotopes in rivers : insights into global weathering budgets, pyrite oxidation, and the modern sulfur cycle( 2018-05) Burke, Andrea ; Present, Theodore M. ; Paris, Guillaume ; Rae, Emily C. M. ; Sandilands, Brodie H. ; Gaillardet, Jerome ; Peucker-Ehrenbrink, Bernhard ; Fischer, Woodward W. ; McClelland, James W. ; Spencer, Robert G. M. ; Voss, Britta M. ; Adkins, Jess F.The biogeochemical sulfur cycle is intimately linked to the cycles of carbon, iron, and oxygen, and plays an important role in global climate via weathering reactions and aerosols. However, many aspects of the modern budget of the global sulfur cycle are not fully understood. We present new δ34S measurements on sulfate from more than 160 river samples from different geographical and climatic regions—more than 46% of the world’s freshwater flux to the ocean is accounted for in this estimate of the global riverine sulfur isotope budget. These measurements include major rivers and their tributaries, as well as time series, and are combined with previously published data to estimate the modern flux-weighted global riverine δ34S as 4.4 ± 4.5 ‰ (V-CDT), and 4.8 ± 4.9 ‰ when the most polluted rivers are excluded. Combined with major anion and cation concentrations, the sulfur isotope data allow us to tease apart the relative contributions of different processes to the modern riverine sulfur budget, resulting in new estimates of the flux of riverine sulfate due to the oxidative weathering of pyrites (1.3 ± 0.2 Tmol S/y) and the weathering of sedimentary sulfate minerals (1.5 ± 0.2 Tmol S/y). These data indicate that previous estimates of the global oxidative weathering of pyrite have been too low by a factor of two. As pyrite oxidation coupled to carbonate weathering can act as a source of CO2 to the atmosphere, this global pyrite weathering budget implies that the global CO2 weathering sink is overestimated. Furthermore, the large range of sulfur isotope ratios in modern rivers indicates that secular changes in the lithologies exposed to weathering through time could play a major role in driving past variations in δ34S of seawater.
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ArticleSteering operational synergies in terrestrial observation networks : opportunity for advancing Earth system dynamics modelling(Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2018-05-23) Baatz, Roland ; Sullivan, Pamela L. ; Li, Li ; Weintraub, Samantha R. ; Loescher, Henry W. ; Mirtl, Michael ; Groffman, Peter M. ; Wall, Diana H. ; Young, Michael ; White, Tim ; Wen, Hang ; Zacharias, Steffen ; Kühn, Ingolf ; Tang, Jianwu ; Gaillardet, Jerome ; Braud, Isabelle ; Flores, Alejandro N. ; Kumar, Praveen ; Lin, Henry ; Ghezzehei, Teamrat ; Jones, Julia ; Gholz, Henry L. ; Vereecken, Harry ; Van Looy, KrisAdvancing our understanding of Earth system dynamics (ESD) depends on the development of models and other analytical tools that apply physical, biological, and chemical data. This ambition to increase understanding and develop models of ESD based on site observations was the stimulus for creating the networks of Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER), Critical Zone Observatories (CZOs), and others. We organized a survey, the results of which identified pressing gaps in data availability from these networks, in particular for the future development and evaluation of models that represent ESD processes, and provide insights for improvement in both data collection and model integration. From this survey overview of data applications in the context of LTER and CZO research, we identified three challenges: (1) widen application of terrestrial observation network data in Earth system modelling, (2) develop integrated Earth system models that incorporate process representation and data of multiple disciplines, and (3) identify complementarity in measured variables and spatial extent, and promoting synergies in the existing observational networks. These challenges lead to perspectives and recommendations for an improved dialogue between the observation networks and the ESD modelling community, including co-location of sites in the existing networks and further formalizing these recommendations among these communities. Developing these synergies will enable cross-site and cross-network comparison and synthesis studies, which will help produce insights around organizing principles, classifications, and general rules of coupling processes with environmental conditions.