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Chemical weathering and CO2 consumption rate of montane silicate in South China: a case study of the Xizhijiang River Basin

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Abstract

Consumed CO2 in silicate chemical weathering can be calculated by the chemical composition of the runoff, but trace carbonate weathering and pollutants have a significant impact on the hydrochemical signals. In this study, the chemical composition of runoff of four sub-basins with different trace carbonate contents in strata and land use types of the Xizhijiang River (XZR) basin was measured to investigate the impact of lithology and land use on the chemical runoff as well as estimating CO2 consumed by chemical weathering. Compared with the global rivers, the chemical runoff produced by weathering in the XZR basin with a hot and humid climate has a moderate concentration of total dissolved solids and a relatively higher concentration of dissolved silicon. Agricultural and industrial activities increased the riverine water Cl− concentration, and trace carbonate weathering released a large amount of Ca2+. More intensive chemical weathering in summer weakened the dilution effect of rainwater on runoff ions in the mid-upstream XZR basin. In the sub-basins affected by agricultural and industrial runoff, the ion concentration was significantly higher in the dry season than in the rainy season. The CO2 flux fixed by the chemical weathering is 3.13 × 105 mol km−2 a−1 for the mid-upstream XZR basin, which constitutes a significant geological carbon sink if extrapolated to the whole of South China.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author with the following link https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10698-x

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41871014), and by NSFC-Guangdong Joint Foundation of China (No. U1901209). We would thank W.S., Zhuo, and J., Ding, School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, for their help in DOC and DIC analysis. We would thank S.Q., Feng, M.S, Liang, and Y.X., Chen, the Instrumentation Analysis and Research Center, Sun Yat-sen University, for their help in IC and ICP-AES analysis. Graduate students Mei Zhou, Ling Yao, Xiaoxi Lyu, and Haojun Deng helped with field sampling and experiments. Thanks to Dr. Zhengang Wang for helping to polish our English writing.

Funding

This work was supported by [the Natural Science Foundation of China] (Grant numbers [41871014]) and the NSFC-Guangdong Joint Foundation of China (Grant numbers [U1901209]).

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  1. School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, 132 East Waihuan Rd., University Town, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Quanzhou Gao, Haixia Peng & Peilin Liao

  2. Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, 519080, People’s Republic of China

    Quanzhou Gao

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QG contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by QG and HP. PL contributed to the discussion and the diagram drawing. The first draft of the manuscript was written by QG and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Gao, Q., Peng, H. & Liao, P. Chemical weathering and CO2 consumption rate of montane silicate in South China: a case study of the Xizhijiang River Basin. Environ Earth Sci 82, 7 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10698-x

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