Key Parameters Controlling the Seasonal and Inter-annual Variations of
pCO2, Chemical Composition and Carbonate Equilibrium in Stream Water
from a Mountainous Karstic Catchment (Pyrenees, France)
Abstract
The carbonate dissolution plays a major role in the atmospheric CO2 sink
and in the riverine transfer of dissolved inorganic carbon from the
atmosphere to the critical zone and to the oceans. In this context, the
Baget watershed (13.25 km2, altitude 950 m), essentially forested and
weakly exposed to local anthropogenic pollution, drains a karst area in
the Pyrenees mountains. It has been monitored for more than 40 years to
better understand the impact of global changes on carbonate dissolution
and hydro-chemistry of streamwaters. The mean annual precipitation
exceeds 1500 mm and the air temperature average is 12°C. Calcareous
dominates the lithology (around 2/3 of the area), with some flysh and
schists. This experimental catchment belongs to the French Karst
Network, to the French (OZCAR) and European (LTER) Research
Infrastructures. Based on the hydrochemistry survey since 1978, the
results focus on carbonate dissolution, stream water chemistry (mainly
Ca, Mg and alkalinity) and calcite saturation index (SI) in relation
with pCO2, temperature (T) and river discharge (Q). We analysed the long
term trends of the instantaneous values but also of the inter-annual
fluctuations of the mean monthly values. The long-term hydrochemical
survey allows to evidence a net increasing trend in [Ca2++Mg2+] and
[HCO3-] that could be related to an increase in air temperature and
a decrease in pCO2 and discharge. Indeed, changes in vegetation cover
over the period might have been another controlling factor that is
currently investigated. Furthermore, mean monthly values based on the
long-term trends allow to understand the dynamic of carbonate
dissolution and to identify the main key controlling factors such as the
water amount (discharge) and the air temperature, which influences pCO2
production. Lastly, the influence of the drainage relative to minor
lithology could be evidenced particularly during low water period by an
increased proportion of [SO42-] to [HCO3- ] in stream water, due
to the relative substitution of [H2CO3] by [H2SO4] from pyrite
oxydation.