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Abstract The Tocantins River contributes ∼5% of the total flux of water to the Amazon River plume in the Atlantic Ocean. Here, we evaluate monthly variability in the composition and abundance of carbon, nitrogen, and suspended sediment in the lower reaches of the Tocantins River from 2014 to 2016. Dissolved organic carbon concentrations generally increased during periods of high discharge and are ∼1.5 times lower than average concentrations at the mouth of the Amazon River. Dissolved inorganic carbon similarly increased during periods of high discharge. Total dissolved nitrogen and individual nitrogen species followed a similar temporal pattern, increasing during high water.predominated the dissolved inorganic nitrogen pool, followed by, and, characteristic of environments with a relatively low anthropogenic impact. Dissolved fractions represented 92% of the total carbon exported and 78% of the total nitrogen exported. The suspended particulate sediment flux was 2.72 × 106 t yr−1, with fine suspended sediment dominating (71.3%). Concentrations of carbon relative to nitrogen indicate a primarily terrigenous source of organic matter and CO2derived from in situ respiration of this material during the rainy season and a primarily algal/bacterial source of organic matter during the dry season. Considering past estimates of dissolved carbon and nitrogen fluxes from the Amazon River to the Atlantic Ocean, the Tocantins River contributes 3% and 3.7% to total fluxes to the Amazon River plume region, respectively. While this contribution is relatively small, it may be influenced by future changes to the basin's land use and hydrology.
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This content will become publicly available on June 1, 2026
Long‐Term and Seasonal Drivers of Organic Matter in the Clearwater Tapajós River and Implications for the Amazon River Basin
Abstract The Amazon River exports over 10% of the global riverine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) flux to the ocean. However, several downstream clearwater tributaries, such as the Tapajós River, are typically not included in these measurements, omitting a crucial part of the Amazon carbon cycle. This study investigated near‐monthly DOC and dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition via optical, fluorescence spectroscopy, and ultra‐high resolution mass spectrometry (FT‐ICR MS) of the Tapajós River for 8 years (2016–2024) to better understand patterns and drivers of potential organic carbon export to the lower Amazon River. DOM composition and DOC export were driven by the seasonal flood pulse of the Tapajós River, exporting aromatic terrestrial DOM from the watershed during high discharge and internally produced algal or microbial DOM during dry periods. On average, we report that the Tapajós River exports 1.38 Tg DOC annually to the downstream Amazon mixing zone, representing an amount of DOC exported by other major world rivers such as the Yukon or Mekong River. Furthermore, organic carbon export varied interannually with less DOC exported during dry El Niño events and more algal‐derived DOM exported during bloom periods. Finally, as grassland and cropland landcover increased over the study period, we observed an average decrease in aromatic DOM and an increase in microbially processed fluorophores. Our study suggests that temperature, precipitation, and anthropogenic land use changes in clearwater rivers will impact carbon export across the lower Amazon River network.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2333961
- PAR ID:
- 10651496
- Publisher / Repository:
- AGU
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles
- Volume:
- 39
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0886-6236
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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