The transport of organic and inorganic material in 10 Norwegian rivers has been monitored from 1990 to 1998. The suspended material in the rivers consisted of 40–80% organic materials. A major part of this was DOC with a C/N mole ratio > 25. The C/N ratio of the organic material increases with increasing river flow when drained from forest-dominated catchments, in contrast to mountain dominated catchments where variation in runoff does not influence the C/N ratio. Laboratory experiments showed that more than 90% of the DOC remained in solution when salinity increased to 30. The flocculated and settled material contained less than 5% organic material with a C/N ratio of 6.7–12.4, comparable to C/N ratios in cultivated soils and coastal marine sediments. This confirms that only a minor amount of organic material carried to the sea by rivers settles in the coastal zone.
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1 September 2003
Riverine Inputs of Organic Carbon and Nitrogen to Norwegian Coastal Areas
Aud Helland,
Gjertrud Holtan,
Per Jørgensen
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AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
Vol. 32 • No. 6
September 2003
Vol. 32 • No. 6
September 2003
