Inorganic carbon and oxygen dynamics in a marsh-dominated estuary.

ABSTRACT: We conducted a free-water mass balance-based study to address the rate of metabolism and net carbon exchange for the tidal wetland and estuarine portion of the coastal ocean and the uncertainties associated with this approach were assessed. We measured open water diurnal O₂ and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) dynamics seasonally in a salt marsh-estuary in Georgia, U.S.A. with a focus on the marsh-estuary linkage associated with tidal flooding. We observed that the overall estuarine system was a net source of CO₂ to the atmosphere and coastal ocean and a net sink for oceanic and atmospheric O₂. Rates of metabolism were extremely high, with respiration (43 mol m^-2 yr^-1) greatly exceeding gross primary production (28 mol m^-2 y

SUBMITTER: Wang SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5812098 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature