Sulphuric acid-mediated weathering on Taiwan buffers geological atmospheric carbon sinks.

ABSTRACT: The chemical composition of the Gaoping River in Taiwan reflects the weathering of both silicate and carbonate rocks found in its metasedimentary catchment. Major dissolved ion chemistry and radiocarbon signatures of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) reveal the importance of pyrite-derived sulphuric acid weathering on silicates and carbonates. Two-thirds of the dissolved load of the Gaoping River derives from sulphuric acid-mediated weathering of rocks within its catchment. This is reflected in the lowest reported signatures DI14C for a small mountainous river (43 to 71 percent modern carbon), with rock-derived carbonate constituting a 14C-free DIC source. Using an inverse modelling approach integrating riverine major dissolved ion chemistry and DI14C, we provide quantitative constraints of

SUBMITTER: Blattmann TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6393438 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature