| Oceanography > Issues > Archive > Volume 4 > Issue 1 |
1991, Oceanography 4(1):15–20, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.1991.16
Geochemical Processes Occurring in the Waters at the Amazon River/Ocean Boundary
Authors | First Paragraph | Full Article | Citation
Authors
David J. DeMaster | Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
Brent A. McKee | Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Chauvin, LA, USA
Willard S. Moore | Department of Geological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
David M. Nelson | College of Oceanography, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
William J. Showers | Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
Walker O. Smith Jr. | Program in Ecology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
First Paragraph
Geochemical reactions occurring in estuarine waters can significantly affect the riverine flux of nutrients, minor elements, and trace elements to the ocean. Biological uptake, adsorption/desorption reactions, coagulation, as well as precipitation of iron hydroxides and high-molecular- weight organic acids, all can affect the chemical flux to the marine environment (e.g., Boyle et al., 1977; Sholkovitz et al., 1978; DeMaster et al., 1986). Many studies investigating these chemical reactions have been conducted in the estuaries of small rivers (discharge < 1014 1 y–1) because of simplicity in modeling the hydrographic regime or because of logistical reasons. Geochemical studies in these small estuarine systems have provided valuable insight to the chemical reactions that occur during the mixing of riverine and oceanic waters. However, much of the chemical flux from rivers enters the ocean via large dispersal systems. For example, the Amazon River alone supplies 17% of all the dissolved silica reaching the marine environment via rivers (Livingstone, 1963). Estuarine processes occurring in the more frequently studied small dispersal systems are extrapolated to those occurring in the large dispersal systems, but the validity of this extrapolation is unclear.
Full Article
Citation
DeMaster, D.J., B.A. McKee, W.S. Moore, D.M. Nelson, W.J. Showers, and W.O. Smith Jr. 1991. Geochemical processes occurring in the waters at the Amazon River/ocean boundary. Oceanography 4(1):15–20, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.1991.16.