The composition and flux of particulate and dissolved carbohydrates from the Rhone River into the Mediterranean Sea

Christos Panagiotopoulos (1) , Richard Sempere (1) , Julien Para (1) , Patrick Raimbault (1) , Christophe Rabouille (2, 3) , Bruno Charrìère (1)

1 CE
2 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
3 OCEANIS - Océan et Interfaces

For the period 2007-2009, we sampled once per month POM and DOM and measured the total suspended matter (TSM), POM, DOM, PCHO, and DCHO for the Rhone River, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea. Using these measurements, we estimated for the above parameters annual fluxes for the period 2007-2009. The estimated carbohydrate fluxes averaged 0.064±0.026×1010 moles Cyr−1 for PCHO and 0.042±0.008×1010 moles Cyr−1 DCHO, representing 6% and 7% of the annual flux of POC and DOC, respectively. During flood and low-water periods, POM variations were reflected into the PCHO pool, whereas this was not observed for DOC and DCHO, indicating a decoupling between particulate and dissolved organic matter. Our results also showed that flood and low-water periods may be differentiated using the ratios PCHO/DCHO and POC/DOC, which had a significant relationship.

Mots clés: sugars; Rhone RIver; Mediterranean Sea

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère

Christos Panagiotopoulos, Richard Sempere, Julien Para, Patrick Raimbault, Christophe Rabouille, et al.. The composition and flux of particulate and dissolved carbohydrates from the Rhone River into the Mediterranean Sea. Biogeosciences, 2012, 9, pp.1827-1844. ⟨10.5194/bg-9-1827-2012⟩. ⟨hal-00701986⟩