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©Copyright 2012 Erin Elizabeth Ellis Elucidating Temporal Variability in Organic Matter Sources and Cycling in Tropical Rivers Erin Elizabeth Ellis A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2012 Reading Committee: Anitra E. Ingalls, Co-Chair Jeffrey E. Richey, Co-Chair Richard G. Keil Program Authorized to Offer Degree: School of Oceanography University of Washington Abstract Elucidating Temporal Variability in Organic Matter Sources and Cycling in Tropical Rivers Erin Elizabeth Ellis Co-Chairs of the Supervisory Committee: Associate Professor Anitra E. Ingalls School of Oceanography Professor Jeffrey E. Richey School of Oceanography Tropical rivers are large sources of carbon to the atmosphere and the ocean. The composition of riverine organic matter (OM) affects the size of these fluxes by governing how much carbon will be returned to the atmosphere while in transit versus exported to the ocean, where carbon can be permanently buried in marine sediments. Carbon isotopes coupled with biomarker measurements are powerful tools to elucidate the sources and cycling of OM in rivers, yet few studies have employed them in the tropics. Here I use carbon isotopes (δ13C and ∆14C) and biomarker measurements of higher plants and soils to address the following topics: sources of organic carbon respired in rivers; terrestrial OM sources to rivers; the age of riverine OM. In the Amazon Basin, in situ respiration rates are high enough to support the high carbon dioxide gas evasion rates occurring in many white-water rivers. C4 grasses, C3 plants, and phytoplankton fuel respiration, with phytoplankton being important during the low-water season. On the mainstem, C4 grasses are an important substrate for respiration during the rising-water stage, but other sources dominate during falling water. In the Mekong Basin, vascular plants contribute to 15-76% of the particulate organic carbon (POC) exported by the river, with phytoplankton and higher plants dominating OM composition during the dry and rainy seasons, respectively. The age of lignin exported by the Mekong is consistently young (produced within the last 15 years), and it cycles amidst POC of varying ages, ranging from contemporary during the rainy season, to over 3,000 years old during the rising-water period. The aged signal observed during the dry period is likely due to the increasing influence from carbon derived from the Upper Basin (the Chinese mountains and the Tibetan Plateau), whereas the young rainy-season values reflect carbon derived from the Lower Basin. Seasonal variability in the composition of particulate lignin corroborates these findings. Finally, the highest concentrations of branched tetraether lipids were found in floodplains and lake beds, suggesting that anaerobic environments may be a significant source of these biomarkers to the river, with production likely occurring within the river. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iv Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2: Factors controlling water-column respiration in rivers of the central and southwestern Amazon Basin ................................................................................................................................. 5 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 5 Methods....................................................................................................................................... 9 Study area................................................................................................................................ 9 Sample collection .................................................................................................................. 10 Organic matter source: Carbon isotopic analyses and C:N ratios ........................................ 12 In situ respiration rates .......................................................................................................... 13 Gas evasion ........................................................................................................................... 15 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Variation in PCO2, outgassing rates, and respiration rates ................................................... 16 Variations in the concentration and organic composition of the physical size classes of organic carbon ....................................................................................................................... 18 Relationships between respiration rates and environmental variables ................................. 19 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 20 Relationships between organic carbon size fractions and respiration rates .......................... 21 Potential biological sources of CO2 produced from respiration ........................................... 26 13 Comparisons between the δ C of respiration-derived CO2 and organic carbon size fractions ............................................................................................................................................... 28 Role of water-column respiration in fueling CO2 outgassing ............................................... 29 Implications towards our understanding of carbon cycling in Amazonian rivers ................ 30 Chapter 3: Seasonal variability in the sources of particulate organic matter of the Mekong River as discerned by elemental and lignin analyses .............................................................................. 43 Introduction: .............................................................................................................................. 43 Methods: ................................................................................................................................... 46 Study area.............................................................................................................................. 46 Field measurements .............................................................................................................. 49 Laboratory analyses .............................................................................................................. 50 Results: ...................................................................................................................................... 53 Plant end-members in the Mekong Watershed ..................................................................... 53 Mekong River sediment fluxes, concentrations and organic matter compositions .............. 55 Measurements of lignin-derived phenols associated with FPOM ........................................ 56 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 57 Variability in lignin-derived phenols in regional vascular plants ......................................... 58 Seasonal variability in vascular-plant derived particulate organic matter transported by the Mekong River ....................................................................................................................... 59 i Mechanisms for a seasonal shift in vascular plant composition ........................................... 63 Variability in the vascular plant contribution to particulate organic matter ......................... 64 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 66 Chapter 4: Young plant-derived organic matter is consistently exported from sediments of the Mekong River Basin despite high variability in the age of the bulk sediments ........................... 80 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 81 Results and Discussion ............................................................................................................. 83 Further Methodology ................................................................................................................ 87 Sample collection and supporting analyses. ......................................................................... 87 Bulk radiocarbon analyses. ................................................................................................... 88 Lignin Analyses. ................................................................................................................... 89 Chapter 5: Sources and Temporal Variability of Branched and Isoprenoid Tetraether Lipids Exported by a Large Tropical River ............................................................................................. 95 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................