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Dissolved inorganic carbon and its isotopic differentiation in cascade reservoirs in the Wujiang drainage basin

  • Articles/Geochemistry
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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Three cascade reservoirs, built in different periods of time in the Wujiang drainage basin, were investigated in this study. Samples were taken at the surface and also at 20, 40, 60, 80 m depths in front of the dams in April, July, October of 2006 and January of 2007. Chemical parameters were calculated and the concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon [DIC] and its isotopic composition (σ 13CDIC) were determined. In surface waters, the σ 13CDIC values are high in summer and autumn and low in winter and spring, while the DIC concentrations are relatively low in summer and autumn and relatively high in winter and spring. In the water column, the DIC concentrations increase while σ 13CDIC values decrease with water depth. DIC in various reservoirs is significantly different in isotopic composition from that in natural rivers, but is close to that in natural lakes. In addition, in surface waters, the σ 13CDIC values tend to become lower whereas the nutrition level tends to become higher with increasing age of the reservoirs. The conclusion is that after dam blocking, changes took place in the hydrochemical properties of river water, and the impounding rivers developed toward lakes and swamps. In addition, differentiation in DIC isotopic composition may be used to some extent to trace the evolution process of a reservoir.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550002, China

    YuanXiu Yu, CongQiang Liu, BaoLi Wang, Jun Li & SiLiang Li

  2. Institute of Applied Radiation, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 201800, China

    FuShun Wang

  3. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    YuanXiu Yu

Authors
  1. YuanXiu Yu
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  2. CongQiang Liu
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  3. FuShun Wang
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  4. BaoLi Wang
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  5. Jun Li
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  6. SiLiang Li
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Correspondence to CongQiang Liu.

Additional information

Supported jointly by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2006CB403205) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 90610037, 40571158 and 40721002)

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Yu, Y., Liu, C., Wang, F. et al. Dissolved inorganic carbon and its isotopic differentiation in cascade reservoirs in the Wujiang drainage basin. Chin. Sci. Bull. 53, 3371–3378 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-008-0348-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-008-0348-8

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