PNNL

Abstract

The Amazon River basin and the waters in the Atlantic Ocean into which the Amazon flows are home to the world’s most diverse ecosystems. This region embodies a rich history of scientific discovery. During the 1980s, one scientific team discovered that vast amounts of waterborne carbon seemed to simply disappear in transit between the upper and central reaches of the Amazon River and the sea. These researchers, part of the Carbon in the Amazon River Experiment (CAMREX) project, made early observations of organic matter and suspended sediments flowing through the upper and central reaches of the river. By 2002, researchers discovered that most of the carbon escaped the river as carbon dioxide (CO2), a phenomenon now recognized as being globally ubiquitous across inland waters at all latitudes. What drives these large evasive gas fluxes? How do these processes evolve as the river meets the sea?