Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-gs9qr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T08:17:36.625Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evaluating Dissolved Inorganic Carbon Cycling in a Forested Lake Watershed Using Carbon Isotopes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Ramon Aravena ,
S. L. Schiff ,
S. E. Trumbore ,
P. J. Dillon  and
Richard Elgood
Ramon Aravena
Affiliation:
Waterloo Centre for Groundwater Research, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 Canada
S. L. Schiff
Affiliation:
Waterloo Centre for Groundwater Research, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 Canada
S. E. Trumbore
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 USA
P. J. Dillon
Affiliation:
Dorset Research Centre, Ministry of the Environment, Dorset, Ontario POA lEO Canada
Richard Elgood
Affiliation:
Waterloo Centre for Groundwater Research, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 Canada
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is the main acid buffer in forested lake watersheds in Canada. We used carbon isotopes (13C, 14C) to evaluate the production and cycling of DIC in an acid-sensitive lake watershed of the Precambrian Shield. Soil CO2, groundwater and stream DIC were characterized chemically and isotopically. Soil CO2 concentration profiles reflect both changes in production and in losses due to diffusion. δ13C soil CO2 profiles (δ13C values of −23‰ in summer, slightly enriched during the fall and −25%‰ during the winter) are a reflection of the isotopic composition of the sources and changes in isotopic fractionation due to diffusion. Carbon isotopic composition (13C, 14C) of the groundwater and stream DIC clearly indicate that weathering of silicates by soil CO2 is the main source of DIC in these watersheds. 14C data show that, in addition to recent groundwater, an older groundwater component with depleted 14C activity is also present in the bedrock. The carbon isotope pattern in the groundwater also implies that, besides the main springtime recharge events, contributions to the groundwater may also occur during late winter/early spring.

Information

Type
II. Applied Isotope Geochemistry
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 34 , Issue 3: Proceedings of the 14th International Radiocarbon Conference , 1992 , pp. 636 - 645
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

References

Aravena, R. and Schiff, S. L. 1990 CO2 production and carbon cycling in Precambrian Shield Watersheds. In Proceedings of the Technology Transfer Conference. Environment Ontario 1: 177–180.Google Scholar
Broecker, W. S. and Walton, A. 1959 The geochemistry of C-14 in fresh water systems. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 16: 15–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cerling, T. E. 1984 The stable isotopic composition of modern soil carbonate and its relationship to climate. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 71: 229–240.Google Scholar
Cerling, T. E., Quade, J., Wang, Y. and Bowman, J. R. 1989 Carbon isotopes in soils and paleosols as paleoecologic indicators. Nature 341: 138–139.Google Scholar
Cerling, T. E., Solomon, K. D., Quade, J. and Bowman, J. R. 1991 On the isotopic composition of carbon in soil carbon dioxide. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 55: 3403–3405.Google Scholar
Cicerone, R. J. and Oremland, R. S. 1988 Biochemical aspects of atmospheric methane. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2(4): 299–327.Google Scholar
Dankevy, S. N., Schiff, S. L., English, M. and Dillon, P. J., in press, Groundwater flow and chemistry in a small acid-stressed subcatchment in the Canadian Shield. In Proceedings of the NHRI Symposium on Groundwater Contamination, National Hydrologic Research Institute, Environment Canada.Google Scholar
Davis, J. C., Proctor, I. D., Southon, J. R., Caffee, M. W., Heikkinen, D. W., Roberts, M. L., Turteltaub, K. W., Nelson, D. E., Loyd, D. H. and Vogel, J. S. 1990 LLNL/UC AMS facility and research program. In Yiou, F. and Raisbeck, G. M., eds., Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry. Nuclear Instruments and Methods B52: 269–272.Google Scholar
Deines, P. 1980 The isotopic composition of reduced organic carbon. In Fritz, P. and Fontes, J.-C., eds., Handbook of Environmental Geochemistry V1: Amsterdam, Elsevier: 329–406.Google Scholar
Deines, P. D., Langmuir, D. and Harmon, R. S. 1974 Stable carbon isotope ratio and the existence of a gas phase in the evolution of carbonate groundwaters. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 38: 1147–1164.Google Scholar
Dillon, P. J., Jeffries, D. S., Snyder, W., Reid, R., Yan, N. D., Evans, D. and Moss, J. 1978. Acid precipitation in South-Central Ontario: Recent observations. Journal of Fisheries Research Board Canada 35(6): 809–815.Google Scholar
Dörr, H. and Münnich, K. O. 1980. Carbon-14 and carbon-13 in soil CO2 . In Stuiver, M. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 10th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 22(3): 909–918.Google Scholar
Dörr, H. and Münnich, K. O. 1986 Annual variation of the 14C content of soil CO2 . In Stuiver, M. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 12th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 28(2A): 338–345.Google Scholar
Dörr, H. and Münnich, K. O. 1987 Annual variation in soil respiration in selected areas of the temperate zone. Tellus 39B: 114–121.Google Scholar
Fontes, J.-C. 1983 Dating of groundwater. In Guidebook to Nuclear Techniques in Hydrology. IAEA, Vienna. Technical Report Series 91: 285–299.Google Scholar
Gallo, G. 1979 Utilization complementaire des isotopes de milieu et de l'hydrochimie pour l'etude hydrogeologique des eaus souterraines de la Region de Ribeirao Preto (Brasil). In Isotope Hydrology 2: 367–407. IAEA, Vienna.Google Scholar
Hedges, J. I., Clark, W. A., Quay, P. D., Richey, J. E., Devol, A. H. and Santos, M. 1986 Composition and fluxes of particulate organic material in the Amazon river. Limnology and Oceanography 31: 717–738.Google Scholar
Hufen, T. H., Lau, L. S. and Buddemeir, R. W. 1974 Radiocarbon, 13C and tritium in water samples from basaltic aquifers and carbonate aquifers on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii. In Proceedings, Isotope Techniques in Groundwater Hydrology 2: 111–127. IAEA, Vienna.Google Scholar
Hinton, M. J., Schiff, S. L. and English, M. C. 1992 Physical properties governing groundwater flow in a glacial till catchment. Journal of Hydrology, in press.Google Scholar
Jeffries, D. S. and Snyder, W. R. 1983 Geology and geochemistry of the Muskoka-Haliburton study area. Dorset Research Centre Ministry of the Environment. Data Report DR 83/2: 101 p.Google Scholar
Kirkwood, D. E. and Nesbitt, H. W. 1991 Formation and evolution of soils from an acidified watershed: Plastic Lake, Ontario, Canada. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 55(5): 1295–1308.Google Scholar
Natelhoffer, K. J. and Fry, B. 1988 Control on the natural nitrogen-15 and carbon-13 abundances in forest soil organic matter. Soil Science of America Journal 52: 1633–1639.Google Scholar
Quay, P. D., Emerson, S. R., Quay, B. M. and Devol, A. H. 1986 The carbon cycle for Lake Washington – A stable isotope study. Limnology and Oceanography 31(3): 596–611.Google Scholar
Reardon, E. J., Allison, G. B. and Fritz, P. 1979 Seasonal chemical and isotopic variations of soil CO2 at Trout Creek, Ontario. Journal of Hydrology 43: 355–371.Google Scholar
Rustad, S., Christophersen, N., Seip, H. M. and Dillon, P.J. 1986 Model for streamwater chemistry of a tributary to Harp Lake, Ontario. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 43: 625–633.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheider, W. A., Jeffries, D. S. and Dillon, P. J. 1979 Effect of acid precipitation on Precambrian fresh-waters in Southern Ontario. Journal of Great Lakes Research 5(1): 45–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiff, S. L., Aravena, R., Trumbore, S. E. and Dillon, P. J. 1990 Dissolved organic carbon cycling in forested watersheds: A carbon isotope approach. Water Resources Research 26(12): 2949–2957.Google Scholar
Seip, H. M., Seip, R., Dillon, P. J. and DeGrosbois, E. 1985 Model of sulphate concentration in a small stream in the Harp Lake catchment, Ontario. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 42: 927–937.Google Scholar
Solomon, D. K. and Cerling, T. E. 1987 The annual carbon dioxide cycle in a montane soil: observations, modeling and implications for weathering. Water Resources Research 23: 2257–2265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M. and Polach, H. A. 1977 Discussion: Reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3): 355–363.Google Scholar
Trumbore, S. E., Schiff, S. L., Aravena, R. and Elgood, R. 1992 Sources and transformation of dissolved organic carbon in a forested catchment: The role of soils. Radiocarbon, this issue.Google Scholar
Wigley, T. M. L. 1975 Carbon-14 dating of groundwater from closed and open systems. Water Resources Research 11: 324–328.Google Scholar