Issue 6, 2022

Quantifying the impacts of non-carbonic acid (NCA) stress on dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) generation in the granitic-hosted watershed, Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark, China

Abstract

To better understand the impacts of non-carbonic acid (NCAs, including sulfuric, nitric and organic acids) stress on DIC generation during chemical weathering, this study investigated the water chemistry and stable isotope composition (δ13CDIC) from a granitic-hosted watershed at Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark, China. The results show that the dissolved loads of the watershed are dominated by both silicate and carbonate weathering. As a region with greatly distributed acid soil and high occurrence of acid rain, the evolution of the dissolved loads and δ13CDIC show that DIC generation in carbonate dissolution is promoted by H2SO4, reduced by HNO3 and little disturbed by organic acids. The reduction is due to CO2 release in carbonate weathering by strong nitric acid formed by nitrification in acid soil. New participating proportions of NCAs in rock weathering yielded by the multiple linear regressions between major ions, DIC and δ13CDIC are introduced into calculations of DIC yields. The overestimated DIC yields by silicate and carbonate weathering by NCAs account for about 34% of total DIC yields calculated with the assumption that all carbonates and silicates are dissolved by H2CO3 alone during a year. The results imply that the modifications of DIC generation by NCAs, especially HNO3 formed in acidic silicate soil, could consequently partly counterbalance the natural CO2 sink in the granitic-host region.

Graphical abstract: Quantifying the impacts of non-carbonic acid (NCA) stress on dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) generation in the granitic-hosted watershed, Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark, China

  • This article is part of the themed collection: Geochemistry

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 2 2022
Accepted
26 4 2022
First published
27 4 2022

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2022,24, 960-972

Quantifying the impacts of non-carbonic acid (NCA) stress on dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) generation in the granitic-hosted watershed, Huangshan UNESCO Global Geopark, China

Y. Jiang, M. Guo, T. Xiao and H. Ji, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2022, 24, 960 DOI: 10.1039/D2EM00071G

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