『Abstract
CO2 consumption by chemical weathering is
an integral part of the boundless carbon cycle, whose spatial
patterns and controlling factors on continental scale are still
not fully understood. A dataset of 338 river catchments throughout
North America was used to empirically identify predictors of bicarbonate
fluxes by chemical weathering and interpret the underlying controlling
factors. Detailed analysis of major ion ratios enables distinction
of the contributions of silicate and carbonate weathering and
thus quantifying CO2 consumption. Extrapolation
of the identified empirical model equations to North America allows
the analysis of the spatial patterns of the CO2
consumption by chemical weathering.
Runoff, lithology and land cover were identified as the major
predictors of the riverine bicarbonate fluxes and the associated
CO2 consumption. Other influence factors,
e.g. temperature, could not be established in the models. Of the
distinguished land cover classes, artificial surfaces, dominated
by urban areas, increase bicarbonate fluxes most, followed by
shrubs, grasslands, managed lands, and forests. The extrapolation
results in an average specific bicarbonate flux of 0.3 Mmol km-2
a-1 by chemical weathering in North America, of which
64% originates from atmospheric CO2, and
36% from carbonate mineral dissolution. Chemical weathering in
North America thus consumes 50 Mt atmospheric CO2-C
per year. About half of that originates from 10% of the area of
North America.
The estimated strength of individual predictors differs from
previous studies. This highlights the need for a globally representative
set of regionally calibrated models of CO2
consumption by chemical weathering, which apply very detailed
spatial data to resolve the heterogeneity of earth surface processes.』
1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Data sources and treatment
2.2. Estimating bicarbonate fluxes and atmosphere CO2
contribution
2.2.1. Bicarbonate fluxes
2.2.2. CO2 contribution
2.2.2.1. Correction for atmospheric inputs
2.2.2.2. Correction for Na from non-silicate weathering sources
2.2.2.3. Correction of non-bicarbonate balanced Ca and Na
2.2.2.4. Carbonate contributions to elementary fluxes from
silicate lithologies
2.2.2.5. Atmospheric CO2 contribution
to bicarbonate flux
2.3. Extrapolation to North America
3. Results
3.1. Estimation of bicarbonate fluxes
3.2. Determination of CO2 consumption
3.3. Extrapolation to North America
4. Discussion
4.1. Controls on bicarbonate fluxes
4.1.1. Runoff and lithology
4.1.2. Land cover
4.1.3. Other factors
4.2. Atmospheric CO2 proportion on bicarbonate
fluxes
4.3. Comparison to previous CO2 consumption
model
4.4. Extrapolation to North America
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Appendix A. Source rock Ca/Na ratio
Appendix B. Maps of atmospheric deposition
Appendix C. Estimates of the prediction equations used for correction
of Ca-excess
References