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The Siak, a tropical black water river in central Sumatra on the verge of anoxia

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Abstract

The Siak is a black water river in central Sumatra, Indonesia, which owes its brown color to dissolved organic matter (DOM) leached from surrounding, heavily disturbed peat soils. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations measured during five expeditions in the Siak between 2004 and 2006 are among the highest reported world wide. The DOM decomposition appeared to be a main factor influencing the oxygen concentration in the Siak which showed values down to 12 μmol l−1. Results derived from a box-diffusion model indicated that in addition to the DOC concentration and the associated DOM decomposition the water-depth also plays a crucial role in regulating the oxygen levels in the river because of its impact on the turbulence in the aquatic boundary layer and the surface/volume ratio of water in the river. Model results imply furthermore that a reduced water-depth could counteract an increased oxygen consumption caused by an enhanced DOM leaching during the transition from dry to wet periods. This buffer mechanism seems to be close to its limits as indicated by sensitivity studies which showed in line with measured data that an increase of the DOC concentrations by ~15% could already lead to anoxic conditions in the Siak. This emphasizes the sensitivity of the Siak against further peat soil degradation, which is assumed to increase DOC concentrations in the rivers.

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Abbreviations

A V :

Diffusion coefficient

C:

Carbon

C Oxygen :

Oxygen consumption rate

C/O ratio:

Ratio between organic carbon and oxygen

DOC:

Dissolved organic carbon

DOM:

Dissolved organic matter

ENSO:

El Niño Southern Oscillation

F Oxygen :

Oxygen flux rate across the air–water interface

k:

Piston velocity

O2 :

Oxygen concentration

O2sat :

Oxygen saturation concentration

[O2]River :

Oxygen concentration in the river water

pO2 :

Oxygen partial pressure

pO2-Atmospere :

Partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere

pO2-River :

Partial pressure of oxygen in the river water

Tg:

Terra gram

S Oxygen :

Oxygen flux through the sea surface into the surface layer

SOI:

Southern Oscillation Index

S.:

Sungai (river)

u diff :

Diffusion velocity

UV:

Ultra violet

α:

Solubility coefficient of oxygen

Δz :

Thickness of the layers in the model

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all scientists and students from the University of Pekanbaru who helped us during our field work, the rector of the University of Riau, the captain of the research vessel R/V Senangin and his crew for their support. For helpful discussion we would like to thank the anonymous reviewer, V. Ittekkot, P. Damm our colleagues from the ZMT and Rena Kerr. We are also grateful to the Federal German Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Technology (BMBF, Bonn grant number 03F0392C-ZMT) for financial support and to R. Schlitzer as well as to P. Wessels and W.·H. F. Smith for providing Ocean Data View (ODV) and the generic mapping tools (GMT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zentrum für Marine Tropenökologie, Fahrenheitstr. 6, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Tim Rixen & Antje Baum

  2. Zentrum für Meeres- und Klimaforschung, Institut für Meereskunde, Universität Hamburg, Bundesstr. 53, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Thomas Pohlmann

  3. Universität Bremen, FB2 Meereschemie (UBMCh), Postfach 330440, 28334, Bremen, Germany

    Wolfgang Balzer

  4. University of Riau, Jl. Simpang Panam Km 12.5, Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia

    Joko Samiaji & Christine Jose

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  1. Tim Rixen
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  2. Antje Baum
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  3. Thomas Pohlmann
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Correspondence to Tim Rixen.

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Rixen, T., Baum, A., Pohlmann, T. et al. The Siak, a tropical black water river in central Sumatra on the verge of anoxia. Biogeochemistry 90, 129–140 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-008-9239-y

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