Advances in Earth Science ›› 2014, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (7): 835-843. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2014.07.0835

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Temporal Variation in Sr and 87Sr/ 86Sr of Yangtze River: An Example from Datong Hydrological Station

Chao Luo 1( ), Hongbo Zheng 2( ), Weihua Wu 1, Shouye Yang 3   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
    2. School of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
    3. State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
  • Online:2014-07-10 Published:2014-07-10

Chao Luo, Hongbo Zheng, Weihua Wu, Shouye Yang. Temporal Variation in Sr and 87Sr/ 86Sr of Yangtze River: An Example from Datong Hydrological Station[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2014, 29(7): 835-843.

Temporal variation of dissolved 87Sr/86Sr in the Yangtze River is poorly understood compared to other Tibetan rivers. In this study, dissolved Sr and 87Sr/86Sr were measured from a temporal series of water samples collected biweekly at Datong Hydrological Station over a period of one year. Our results show that Sr concentration in the Yangtze River ranges from 1.74 to 2.92 μmol/L with 87Sr/86Sr of 0.710125 to 0.710965. The Sr concentration and 87Sr/86Sr shows a distinct seasonal variation, with a general increase in 87Sr/86Sr ratios from summer to winter and some fluctuations during July and December, then followed by a gradually decrease till the next rainy season. The seasonal variation results from the variation of contributions from different sub-basin due to the spatially and seasonally variable rainfall across the basin. During the flood season, more contribution from upper reach (low 87Sr/86Sr values) due to the strong rainfall decreases the 87Sr/86Sr ratio at lower reach. While the severe drought which happened in the middle-lower reaches (high 87Sr/86Sr values) from January to May explains the decrease in the later part of the data by the decrease of the contribution from middle-lower reaches. The discharge weighted annual 87Sr/86Sr and annual Sr flux of the Yangtze River based on the time series data are 0.710628 and 1.9×109 mol/a, respectively. It was also indicated that dissolved 87Sr/86Sr in the Yangtze River is well correlated to the extreme climate events and might contribute to our explanation for reconstructing past climatic changes by using 87Sr/86Sr ratios of the sedimentary record in the delta .

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