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Updated: Jul 22, 2025

Characterization, Quantification and Compound-specific Isotopic Analysis of Pyrogenic Carbon Using Benzene Polycarboxylic Acids BPCA
Published on: May 16, 2016
Characteristics of dissolved black carbon in riverine surface microlayer
Vahab Vaezzadeh1, Guangcai Zhong1, Sasho Gligorovski1
1State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Environmental Pollution and Control, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou 510640, China.
Abstract:
Black carbon (BC) is produced by the incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels. The dissolved form of BC (DBC), which is transported through rivers into the oceans, is of great significance for the carbon cycling on the planet due to its refractory features. However, the characteristics and sources of DBC in riverine water are poorly constrained. Here, we analyzed DBC contents and stable carbon isotope (δ13C) signatures in surface microlayer (SML) from the upper, middle and lower reaches of Pearl River (PR) in the first study of its kind. The DBC contents (100.9 to 166.6 μg L-1) in SML were lower than the global average for riverine water following a trend of upper > middle > lower reaches in PR. The molecular markers of DBC (BPCAs) and their δ13C values showed no statistical differences between the sampling sites (p > 0.05), suggesting biomass burning as the dominant source.
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