Department Surface Waters - Research and Management

Context

Tropical rivers are import pathways for the transport and transformations of organic carbon and nutrients. The Zambezi River is the fourth largest river in Africa. Along its course, hotspots like large floodplains and hydropower reservoirs affect water quality and the fluxes of carbon and nutrients from land to ocean.

Aims / Approaches

We combine field measurements and detailed laboratory analyses to estimate the impact of floodplains on carbon and nutrient fluxes in the Zambezi catchment. Multi-probes are recording key parameters like oxygen, pH, and DOC at several locations along the river. These high-resolution time series reveal the variability of carbon dioxide emissions and of organic carbon inputs over a full hydrological cycle. In addition, we use biomarkers (specifically GDGTs), to establish sources and changes in the mobilization of organic matter from base flow to peak flooding.