Dataset for "Alkalinity in Tidal Tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay"

Journal of Geophysical Research–Oceans, DOI:10.1029/2019JC015597. Despite the important role of alkalinity in estuarine carbon cycling, the seasonal and decadal variability of alkalinity, particularly within multiple tidal tributaries of the same estuary, is poorly understood. Here we analyze more than 26,000 alkalinity measurements, mostly from the 1980s and 1990s, in the major tidal tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, a large, coastal-plain estuary of eastern North America. The long-term means of alkalinity in tidal-fresh waters vary by a factor of 6 among seven tidal tributaries, reflecting the alkalinity of non-tidal rivers draining to these tidal tributaries. At 25 stations, mostly in the Potomac River Estuary, we find significant long-term increasing trends that exceed the trends in the non-tidal rivers upstream of those stations. Box model calculations in the Potomac River Estuary indicate that the main cause of the estuarine trends is a declining alkalinity sink. The magnitude of this sink is consistent with a simple model of calcification by the invasive bivalve Corbicula fluminea. More generally, in tidal tributaries fed by high-alkalinity non-tidal rivers, alkalinity is consumed, with sinks ranging from 8 to 27% of the upstream input. In contrast, tidal tributaries that are fed by low-alkalinity non-tidal rivers have sources of alkalinity amounting to 34 to 171% of the upstream input. For a single estuarine system, the Chesapeake Bay has diverse alkalinity dynamics and can thus serve as a laboratory for studying the numerous processes influencing alkalinity among the world’s estuaries.

Citation

Najjar, Raymond; Herrmann, Maria; Cintrón Del Valle, Sebastián; Jaclyn R. Friedman, ; Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs, ; Lora A. Harris, ; Elizabeth H. Shadwick, ; Edward G. Stets, ; Ryan J. Woodland, (). Dataset for "Alkalinity in Tidal Tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay" [Data set]. Scholarsphere. https://doi.org/10.26207/w1vs-jz06

Files

Metadata

Work Title Dataset for "Alkalinity in Tidal Tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay"
Subtitle Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans DOI:10.1029/2019JC015597
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Raymond G. Najjar
  2. Maria Herrmann
  3. Sebastian M. Cintron Del Valle
  4. Jaclyn R. Friedman
  5. Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs
  6. Lora A. Harris
  7. Elizabeth H. Shadwick
  8. Edward G. Stets
  9. Ryan J. Woodland
Keyword
  1. estuaries
  2. alkalinity
  3. biogeochemistry
  4. carbon cycle
License CC BY 4.0 (Attribution)
Work Type Dataset
DOI doi:10.26207/w1vs-jz06
Deposited November 21, 2019

Versions

Analytics

Collections

This resource is currently not in any collection.

Work History

Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added nontidal_station_list.nc
  • Added nontidal_data_whole.nc
  • Added tidal_data_whole.nc
  • Added tidal_data_reduced.nc
  • Added bivalve_data_random.nc
  • Added README.txt
  • Added sav_data.nc
  • Added nontidal_data_reduced.nc
  • Added tidal_station_list.nc
  • Added bivalve_data_fixed.nc
  • Added Creator Raymond G. Najjar
  • Added Creator Maria Herrmann
  • Added Creator Sebastian M. Cintron Del Valle
  • Added Creator Jaclyn R. Friedman
  • Added Creator Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs
  • Added Creator Lora A. Harris
  • Added Creator Elizabeth H. Shadwick
  • Added Creator Edward G. Stets
  • Added Creator Ryan J. Woodland
  • Published
  • Updated