The Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences

2027 Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences

January 12-15, 2027

Hydrological control on particulate organic carbon export and its terrestrial source contribution in three major South Korean rivers
ID:938 Oral Presentation

2027-01-15 08:45 (China Standard Time)

Session:Session 28 - Carbon Dynamics within the Land to Sea Continuum in a Changing World

Abstract
Rivers deliver terrestrial and aquatic carbon to the coastal ocean, and the particulate organic carbon (POC) fraction is the component most directly tied to catchment erosion and hydrological forcing. In East Asian monsoon rivers, however, the magnitude of POC export and its sensitivity to water flow regime remain poorly constrained, in part because many flux estimates rest on short observation periods that do not span contrasting wet and dry years. Here we quantify dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and POC fluxes in three major South Korean rivers — the Han (21,700 km2), Nakdong (20,700 km2), and Yeongsan (2,150 km2) — over 2021–2024. Annual carbon loads were calculated from paired discharge and concentration records. To characterize the origin of the particulate organic carbon, a Bayesian stable-isotope mixing model (MixSIAR) was applied to δ13C and C/N of river POC, using Nakdong River end-members as the quantitative anchor, together with a sensitivity analysis in which end-member values were perturbed to test their transferability between watersheds. Total carbon flux was dominated by DIC in all three rivers (60.9–76.5%). POC formed a minor but systematically varying fraction that increased from the Han (8.2%) and the Nakdong (11.7%) to the Yeongsan (14.8%), inversely to watershed area. In every river, the years of maximum and minimum POC load coincided with those of maximum and minimum annual discharge, although the wettest and driest years differed among watersheds: 2022 was the wettest year in the Han (32.0 km3 yr−1) but the driest in the Nakdong (6.1 km3 yr−1) and Yeongsan (1.2 km3 yr−1). In the Nakdong, discharge varied 3.3-fold between 2022 and 2023 (19.8 km3 yr⁻1), while total carbon load varied threefold (101.7 to 306.2 Gg yr−1) and POC load varied 4.5-fold (9.6 to 43.4 Gg yr−1), so that the particulate fraction responded more sensitively to discharge than the carbon flux as a whole, rising from 9.4% to 14.2% of total carbon. Comparable contrasts occurred in the Han (POC 27.0–42.5 Gg yr−1) and Yeongsan (3.1–7.6 Gg yr−1). Mean total carbon concentration nevertheless remained within a narrow range across all rivers and years (14.0–18.7 mg L−1), indicating that interannual differences in load were driven primarily by water volume rather than by concentration. These results indicate that the magnitude and compositional role of POC export in Korean monsoon rivers are governed primarily by hydrological regime rather than basin size (watershed area).
Speaker
Gwon-Ui Jeon Hanyang University

Author
Gwon-Ui Jeon Hanyang University

    Important Dates

    • Jan 30

      2026

      Session / Event proposals open

    • Mar 31

      2026

      Session / Event proposals close
      (Extended to April 7)

    • Apr 30

      2026

      Session acceptance notifications

    • Apr 30

      2026

      Abstract submissions & registration open

    • Jun 30

      2026

      Abstract submissions close
      (Extended to July 21)

    • Aug 31

      2026

      Abstract acceptance notifications

    • Sep 15

      2026

      Scientific program released

    • Oct 15

      2026

      Early bird registration closes

    • Jan 12–15

      2027

      XMAS 2027