RIVERINE SOURCES AND ESTUARINE FATES OF PARTICULATE ORGANIC-CARBON FROM NORTH CHINA IN LATE SUMMER

Suspended sediments from three North China estuaries, the Luanhe, Shua ngtaizihe and Yalujiang, were collected during August in 1991-93 to de termine the organic carbon concentrations. Distributions of particulat e organic carbon (POC) demonstrate distinctive features in each estuar y: a rather simple dilution of the terrigenous population by organic p oor particles for the Luanhe, relatively low and stable levels of POC in the Shuangtaizihe, and an important contribution from the organic p ool at the turbidity maximum zone of the Yalujiang. Comparison of POC between large Chinese rivers shows a general trend of a rapidly decrea sing POC content with increasing amounts of suspended sediments. On a logarithmic scale, a negative relationship between the concentration o f POC and total suspended sediment has been found for large Chinese sy stems. (C) 1998 Academic Press Limited.