Spatial Patterns of Organic and Inorganic Carbon in Lake Qinghai Surficial Sediments and Carbon Burial Estimation
Lake carbon burial is of vital significance in global carbon cycle and carbon budget, particularly in the large deepwater lakes. However, carbon burial in large deepwater lakes is hard to estimate due to the difficulty in obtaining high spatial-resolution samples. In this study, we investigated dist...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2021.714936/full |
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| author | Xi Chen Xi Chen Xianqiang Meng Yinxian Song Bin Zhang Zhiwei Wan Bingqing Zhou Enlou Zhang |
| author_facet | Xi Chen Xi Chen Xianqiang Meng Yinxian Song Bin Zhang Zhiwei Wan Bingqing Zhou Enlou Zhang |
| author_sort | Xi Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lake carbon burial is of vital significance in global carbon cycle and carbon budget, particularly in the large deepwater lakes. However, carbon burial in large deepwater lakes is hard to estimate due to the difficulty in obtaining high spatial-resolution samples. In this study, we investigated distributions of total organic carbon (TOC) and inorganic carbon (TIC), two main carbon components in lake sediments, based on dozens of surficial sedimentary samples (n = 26) covering whole Lake Qinghai, the largest saline lake in China. The results showed that the TOC content, with a range of 1.4–4.8%, was significantly higher in the lake area near the northern lakeshore where human activities are concentrated and lower in the lake areas near the Buha River mouth and the eastern lake area. In contrast, the TIC content, ranging from 1.5 to 3.8%, increased from the northwestern and southeastern lake areas toward the lake center, and mainly depended on hydro-chemical and hydraulic characteristics. The inorganic carbon burial (47.77 ± 19.73 Gg C yr−1) was approximately equal to organic carbon burial (47.50 ± 22.68 Gg C yr−1) and accounted for about 50% of the total carbon burial (95.27 ± 37.74 Gg C yr−1), suggesting that saline lakes constitute a large inorganic carbon pool in addition to an organic carbon pool. Because of saline water body type in arid and semiarid regions and alpine Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, lakes in these regions have huge inorganic carbon burial potential and important contributions to the global carbon budget. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T00:49:58Z |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T00:49:58Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
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| series | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-06d14b2e068046feb8179354682d8bd22022-12-21T20:44:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Earth Science2296-64632021-07-01910.3389/feart.2021.714936714936Spatial Patterns of Organic and Inorganic Carbon in Lake Qinghai Surficial Sediments and Carbon Burial EstimationXi Chen0Xi Chen1Xianqiang Meng2Yinxian Song3Bin Zhang4Zhiwei Wan5Bingqing Zhou6Enlou Zhang7Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Wetland and Watershed Research Ministry of Education, School of Geography and Environment, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, ChinaDepartment of Geosciences, Faculty of Land Resource Engineering, Kunming Univerity of Science and Technology, Kunming, ChinaGeological Exploration Technology Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Poyang Lake Wetland and Watershed Research Ministry of Education, School of Geography and Environment, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, ChinaGeological Exploration Technology Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, ChinaLake carbon burial is of vital significance in global carbon cycle and carbon budget, particularly in the large deepwater lakes. However, carbon burial in large deepwater lakes is hard to estimate due to the difficulty in obtaining high spatial-resolution samples. In this study, we investigated distributions of total organic carbon (TOC) and inorganic carbon (TIC), two main carbon components in lake sediments, based on dozens of surficial sedimentary samples (n = 26) covering whole Lake Qinghai, the largest saline lake in China. The results showed that the TOC content, with a range of 1.4–4.8%, was significantly higher in the lake area near the northern lakeshore where human activities are concentrated and lower in the lake areas near the Buha River mouth and the eastern lake area. In contrast, the TIC content, ranging from 1.5 to 3.8%, increased from the northwestern and southeastern lake areas toward the lake center, and mainly depended on hydro-chemical and hydraulic characteristics. The inorganic carbon burial (47.77 ± 19.73 Gg C yr−1) was approximately equal to organic carbon burial (47.50 ± 22.68 Gg C yr−1) and accounted for about 50% of the total carbon burial (95.27 ± 37.74 Gg C yr−1), suggesting that saline lakes constitute a large inorganic carbon pool in addition to an organic carbon pool. Because of saline water body type in arid and semiarid regions and alpine Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, lakes in these regions have huge inorganic carbon burial potential and important contributions to the global carbon budget.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2021.714936/fullLake Qinghaiorganic carboninorganic carboncarbon cyclecarbon burial |
| spellingShingle | Xi Chen Xi Chen Xianqiang Meng Yinxian Song Bin Zhang Zhiwei Wan Bingqing Zhou Enlou Zhang Spatial Patterns of Organic and Inorganic Carbon in Lake Qinghai Surficial Sediments and Carbon Burial Estimation Frontiers in Earth Science Lake Qinghai organic carbon inorganic carbon carbon cycle carbon burial |
| title | Spatial Patterns of Organic and Inorganic Carbon in Lake Qinghai Surficial Sediments and Carbon Burial Estimation |
| title_full | Spatial Patterns of Organic and Inorganic Carbon in Lake Qinghai Surficial Sediments and Carbon Burial Estimation |
| title_fullStr | Spatial Patterns of Organic and Inorganic Carbon in Lake Qinghai Surficial Sediments and Carbon Burial Estimation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatial Patterns of Organic and Inorganic Carbon in Lake Qinghai Surficial Sediments and Carbon Burial Estimation |
| title_short | Spatial Patterns of Organic and Inorganic Carbon in Lake Qinghai Surficial Sediments and Carbon Burial Estimation |
| title_sort | spatial patterns of organic and inorganic carbon in lake qinghai surficial sediments and carbon burial estimation |
| topic | Lake Qinghai organic carbon inorganic carbon carbon cycle carbon burial |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2021.714936/full |
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