Abstract
Abstract. Metabolic activities in estuaries, especially these of large rivers,
profoundly affect the downstream coastal biogeochemistry. Here, we unravel
the impacts of large industrial port facilities, showing that elevated
metabolic activity in the Hamburg port (Germany) increases total alkalinity
(TA) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) runoff to the North Sea. The
imports of particulate inorganic carbon, particulate organic carbon, and
particulate organic nitrogen (PIC, POC, and PON) from the upstream Elbe
River can fuel up to 90 % of the TA generated in the entire estuary via
calcium carbonate (CaCO3) dissolution. The remaining at least 10 %
of TA generation can be attributed to anaerobic metabolic processes such as
denitrification of remineralized PON or other pathways. The Elbe Estuary as
a whole adds approximately 15 % to the overall DIC and TA runoff. Both
the magnitude and partitioning among these processes appear to be sensitive
to climatic and anthropogenic changes. Thus, with increased TA loads, the
coastal ocean (in particular) would act as a stronger CO2 sink,
resulting in changes to the overall coastal system's capacity to store
CO2.
Funder
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Subject
Earth-Surface Processes,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Cited by
8 articles.
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