Chemical weathering and its associated CO2 consumption on the Tibetan Plateau: A case of the Lhasa River Basin

doi:10.13745/j.esf.sf.2023.2.66

Abstract

Abstract:

In order to study chemical weathering and its effects on CO₂ consumption and climate change on the Tibetan Plateau, hydrochemical data were collected bi-monthly, over a hydrological year between November 2019 to October 2020, at selected hydrological monitoring stations across the Lhasa River Basin. Combined with δ¹³C_DIC and $\partial^{34}\mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{SO}_4}$ data, the hydrochemistry of the river basin and its major influencing factors were investigated. Mass-balance and forward-model approaches were applied to calculate the end-member contribution, chemical weathering rate, and atmospheric CO₂ consumption flux in the river basin. The main ionic species in river water were Ca²⁺ and $\mathrm{NO}_3^{-}$, and the hydrochemical type was HCO₃-Ca. The cation contribution percentages from atmospheric input, human activities, silicate weathering, and carbonate weathering were 6%, 4%, 21% and 70%, respectively. Chemical weathering is largely caused by sulfuric acid corrosion, where coal strata and sulfide deposits each contributed 50% sulfides, as evidenced by the chemical composition of river water, and δ¹³C (-8.78‰--1.35‰) of dissolved inorganic carbon and $\partial^{34}\mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{SO}_4}$ (-2.26‰--1.10‰) of sulfate in river water; and the sulfuric acid involvement in carbonate weathering was significantly stronger in dry season than in rainy season. By estimation, the annualized weathering rate and CO₂ consumption flux were 5.20 t·km^-2·a^-1 and 118 × 10³ mol·km^-2·a^-1 respectively for silicate, and 22.5 t·km^-2·a^-1 and 202 × 10³ mol·km^-2·a^-1 respectively for carbonate, excluding the impact of sulfuric acid. With sulfuric acid involvement, the annualized weathering rate for carbonate increased by 31% to 29.4 t·km^-2·a^-1, and CO₂ consumption flux for carbonate and silicate combined reduced by 35% to 207 × 10³ mol·km^-2·a^-1. This work revealed that sulfuric acid-mediated weathering can change the regional carbon cycle and should be taken into consideration in carbon cycling modeling.

Key words: chemical weathering, CO₂ consumption, carbon cycle, sulfuric acid, carbon and sulfur isotope, Lhasa River

CLC Number:

XIE Yincai, YU Shi, MIAO Xiongyi, LI Jun, HE Shiyi, SUN Ping’an. Chemical weathering and its associated CO₂ consumption on the Tibetan Plateau: A case of the Lhasa River Basin[J]. Earth Science Frontiers, 2023, 30(5): 510-525.

Figures/Tables 13

Fig.1 Map showing the location of the study area and the sampling site in Lhasa River Basin. Modified after [22].

Table 1 Summary of river-water monitoring data for the Lhasa River Basin

Fig.2 Monthly variations of major ion concentrations and TDS in the Lhasa River Basin

Fig.3 Gibbs diagrams for river water in the Lhasa River Basin. Adapted from [33].

Fig.4 Geochemical discrimination plots for water samples from the Lhasa River Basin showing the control of rock weathering on river water chemistry

Fig.5 Relationships between SiO2 and K+ (a) and Na+ (b) in river water in the Lhasa River Basin

Fig.6 Relationships between (K++Na++Ca2++Mg2+) and $\mathrm{NO}_3^{-}$ (a) and ($\mathrm{NO}_3^{-}$+$\mathrm{SO}_4^{2-}$) (b) in river water in the Lhasa River Basin

Fig.7 Equivalent ratios of [Ca2++Mg2+]/[$\mathrm{NO}_3^{-}$] vs. [$\mathrm{SO}_4^{2-}$]/[$\mathrm{NO}_3^{-}$] in waters draining the Lhasa River Basin

Fig.7 Relationships between $\mathrm{SO}_4^{2-}$ and (Ca2++Mg2+) (a) and $\mathrm{NO}_3^{-}$ (b) in river water in the Lhasa River Basin

Fig.7 Relationships between δ13CDIC and $\mathrm{SO}_4^{2-}$ in river water in the Lhasa River Basin

Fig.10 Average bi-monthly cation contribution percentages from end-members in the Lhasa River Basin

Table 1 Comparison of chemical weathering rates and associated CO2fluxes between the Lhasa River Basin and other rivers under different climate types

Table 3 Contrast of the proportion of sulfuric acid participating in rock weathering to offset atmospheric CO2 consumption flux of the different river basins

地区	河流名称	硫酸参与岩石风化抵消大气CO₂ 消耗通量的比例/%	数据来源
青藏高原	拉萨河(拉萨)	35	本文
	尼洋河(河口)	28	文献[54]
	澜沧江(彬阳)	82	文献[8]
	怒江(宝山)	118
	金沙江(石鼓)	14	文献[9]
	岷江(高场)	10
西南	赤水河(合江)	45	文献[58]
	乌江	13	文献[55]
	舞阳江	21
	清水江	16
	南盘江	13	文献[12]
	北盘江	20
	长江(宜昌)	13	文献[9]
	长江(大通)	14
	嘉陵江(北碚)	12
	汉江(仙桃)	10
	赣江(外洲)	14
	西江(蔗香)	22	文献[59]
东南	钱塘江(杭州)	13	文献[60]
东南	韩江(潮州)	38	文献[61]

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Chemical weathering and its associated CO₂ consumption on the Tibetan Plateau: A case of the Lhasa River Basin

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