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New insights on the classification of major Amazonian river water types

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Abstract

Traditional water classifications for Amazonian rivers are based mainly on optical characteristics that do not fully capture their complexity. Today, an increasing amount of hydrochemical data indicates that the chemical composition of Amazonian rivers varies much more than this simple classification indicates. Revising river classification based on hydrochemical properties is proposed here. In this first comprehensive review of Amazonian river chemistry, we synthesized critical information from 168 scientific publications and distinguish unusual white, black, and clearwater rivers. It is shown the distribution of such rivers across the basin and the limitations of using generalized designations for river typologies. For example, some optically clearwater rivers draining carboniferous stripes have chemical properties similar to whitewater rivers, regardless of their high transparency. Furthermore, a clear or blackwater stream that becomes turbid because of soil erosion does not become a whitewater stream. Its hydrochemical parameters of acidity and nutrient poverty depend on the geology of the catchment area and remain relatively unaffected. These insights into Amazonian river classification provide a new understanding of their baseline limnological conditions. They have implications for sustainable management of freshwater systems and for monitoring potential impacts of large development projects and climate change on the Amazonian aquatic systems.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by “CAPES/CNPq-IEL Nacional-Brasil”, Nuclei Excellency Support Projects (PRONEX) “Tipologias Alagáveis (CNPq/FAPEAM)”, INPA/Max-Planck, Ecology, Monitoring and Sustainable Use of Wetlands Group (MAUA/CDAM/PELD/MAUA), Climate and Environment Program at the Brazilian National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA/UEA), Programa de Apoio à Fixação de Doutores no Amazonas—FIXAM/AM (grant number: 062.01319/2014) and Programa de Apoio à Participação em Eventos Científicos e Tecnológicos—PAPE from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas—FAPEAM/SECTI/AM, and the Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Áreas Úmidas (INCT-INAU-UFMT). The authors are grateful to the Chemistry Laboratory (CPCRH/INPA) for water analyses assistance, to Aline Lopes, Luciana Carvalho Crema, and Kyara Martins Formiga by appreciated suggestions on the manuscript, and also to Mateus Soares de Oliveira by help with the compilation of sampling points’ geographical coordinates. We thank the anonymous reviewers for the comments and suggestions which they provided. The first author is "Bolsista CAPES/BRASIL".

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MAUA Working Group, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Campus I, Av. André Araújo, 2.936, Petrópolis, Caixa Postal 478, Manaus, Amazonas, CEP: 69067-375, Brazil

    Eduardo Antonio Ríos-Villamizar & Maria Teresa Fernandez Piedade

  2. National Institute of Amazonian Research, INPA/MCTIC, Programa de Grande Escala da Biosfera-Atmosfera na Amazônia—LBA, Coordenação de Pesquisas Hidrológicas—CPH, Grupo de Hidrobiogeoquímica, Av. André Araújo, 2936, Petrópolis, Campus II, Manaus, Amazonas, CEP 69067-375, Brazil

    Eduardo Antonio Ríos-Villamizar

  3. National Institute of Amazonian Research, INPA/MCTIC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Clima e Ambiente—PPG-CLIAMB, Av. André Araújo, 2936, Petrópolis, Campus I, Manaus, Amazonas, CEP 69067-375, Brazil

    Eduardo Antonio Ríos-Villamizar

  4. Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, 27106, USA

    J. Marion Adeney

  5. Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, 1661 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA

    J. Marion Adeney

  6. Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Áreas Úmidas (INCT-INAU-UFMT), Rua Dois, 497, Boa Esperança, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, CEP: 78068-360, Brazil

    Wolfgang Johannes Junk

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  1. Eduardo Antonio Ríos-Villamizar
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Ríos-Villamizar, E.A., Adeney, J.M., Piedade, M.T.F. et al. New insights on the classification of major Amazonian river water types. Sustain. Water Resour. Manag. 6, 83 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-020-00440-5

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