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C, N, and P Export Dynamics in the Amazon River

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Interactions of C, N, P and S Biogeochemical Cycles and Global Change

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASII,volume 4))

Abstract

One of the most significant challenges for the science of global change is determining how hydrological and biogeochemical cycles function at the land surface on regional to continental scales. At these scales, river basins are natural integrators of surficial processes. As the main pathway for the ultimate preservation of terrigenous production in modern environments, the transfer of organic matter from the land to the oceans is a key link in the global carbon cycle (Hedges, in press). Carbon and nutrient fluxes in large rivers are reflections of their watersheds and floodplains, and some extension of the properties of the smaller rivers that form them (Richey et al.,1990). Organic and inorganic materials measured in the main channel are a mixture of materials originating from sources thousands of kilometers away in upland regions, as well as material introduced continuously from the adjacent floodplain. Organic matter of both sources has been subjected to within channel transport and reactive processes before it is discharged into the coastal zone.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Jeffrey E. Richey

  2. Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Piracicaba, SP, Brasil

    Reynaldo L. Victoria

Authors
  1. Jeffrey E. Richey
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  2. Reynaldo L. Victoria
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Océanographie Chimique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Roland Wollast  & Lei Chou  & 

  2. Department of Oceanography, School of Ocean and Earth, Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

    Fred T. Mackenzie

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Richey, J.E., Victoria, R.L. (1993). C, N, and P Export Dynamics in the Amazon River. In: Wollast, R., Mackenzie, F.T., Chou, L. (eds) Interactions of C, N, P and S Biogeochemical Cycles and Global Change. NATO ASI Series, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76064-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76064-8_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-76066-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-76064-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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