Recent inorganic carbon increase in a temperate estuary driven by water quality improvement and enhanced by droughts

Rewrie, Louise C. V.; Baschek, Burkard; van Beusekom, Justus E. E.; Körtzinger, Arne; Ollesch, Gregor; Voynova, Yoana G.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4931-2023

Articles | Volume 20, issue 24

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4931-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4931-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 24

Research article

|

14 Dec 2023

Research article |

| 14 Dec 2023

Recent inorganic carbon increase in a temperate estuary driven by water quality improvement and enhanced by droughts

Louise C. V. Rewrie, Burkard Baschek, Justus E. E. van Beusekom, Arne Körtzinger, Gregor Ollesch, and Yoana G. Voynova

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4931-2023-supplement

Data sets

FGG Elbe data portal FGG Elbe https://www.fgg-elbe.de/elbe-datenportal.html

E-OBS meteorological data for Europe Copernicus Climate Data Store https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu

Global Monitoring Laboratory measurements Global Monitoring Laboratory https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/gl_data.html

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Short summary

After heavy pollution in the 1980s, a long-term inorganic carbon increase in the Elbe Estuary (1997–2020) was fueled by phytoplankton and organic carbon production in the upper estuary, associated with improved water quality. A recent drought (2014–2020) modulated the trend, extending the water residence time and the dry summer season into May. The drought enhanced production of inorganic carbon in the estuary but significantly decreased the annual inorganic carbon export to coastal waters.