wAbstract
@The geochemistry of dissolved and suspended loads in river catchments
of two low mountain ranges in Central Europe allows comparison
of pertinent chemical weathering rates. Distinct differences in
lithology, i.e. granites prevailing in the Black Forest compared
to Palaeozoic sediments in the Rhenish Massif, provide the possibility
to examine the influence of lithology on weathering. Here we determine
the origin of river water using the stable isotope ratio Β18OH2O
and we quantify the geogenic proportions of sulphate from stable
isotope ratios Β34SSO4
and Β18OSO4.
Particularly in catchments with abundant pyrite, determination
of the geogenic amount of sulphate is important, since oxidation
of pyrite leads to acidity, which increases weathering. Our results
show that spatially averaged silicate weathering rates are higher
for the river catchments Acher and Gutach in the Black Forest
(10-12 t/km2/yr) compared to the river catchments of
the MohneioΜͺΙNj dam and the Aabach dam in
the Rheinish Massif (2-6 t/km2/yr). Correspondingly,
the CO2 consumption by silicate weathering
in the Black Forest (334-395~103 mol/km2/yr)
is more than twice as high as in the Rheinish Massif (28-151~103
mol/km2/yr). These higher rates for watersheds for
the Black Forest are likely due to steeper slopes leading to higher
mechanical erosion with respective higher amounts of fresh unweathered
rock particulates and due to the fact that the sediments in the
Rheinish Massif have already passed through at least one erosion
cycle. Carbonate weathering rates vary between 12 and 38 t/km2/yr
in the catchments of the Rheinish Massif. The contribution of
sulphuric acid to the silicate weathering is higher in the catchments
of the Rheinish Massif (9-16) than in the catchments of the Black
Forest (5-7) due to abundant pyrite in the sediments of the Rheinish
Massif. Three times higher long-term erosion rates derived from
cosmogenic nuclides compared to short-term erosion rates derived
from river loads in Central Europe point to three times higher
CO2 consumption during the past 103
to 104 years.
Keywords: Silicate weathering; Carbonate weathering; Sulphur isotopes;
Oxygen isotopes; Suspended load; Erosionx
1. Introduction
2. Description of catchment areas
3. Methods
4. Results
@4.1. Sources of river waters
@4.2. Downriver evolution of ion concentrations
@4.3. Sulphur sources
5. Discussion
@5.1. Mobility of major cations during weathering
@5.2. Weathering rates and respective CO2
consumption
6. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
Appendix A. Supplementary data
References