Sources and Transformation of Organic Carbon in Northwestern Argentina
Rivers drain continents and thereby move terrestrial sediments through landscapes, where the organic material can be subjected to various processes altering the sediment. This project, funded by the German Science Foundations‘ (DFG) International Research Training Group StRATEGy aims to understand how rivers transfer terrestrial organic material and what happens to it during transit. Therefore, we investigate various processes that impact transport, bonding and carbon sequestration of organic material during fluvial transit and intermediate floodplain storage. We use organic-geochemical methods to fingerprint the organic carbon in the river system and further, mineralogical, isotope-geochemical and experimental methods to determine and quantify the fate of the organic matter. Our results contribute to our understanding of organic carbon cycling during fluvial transport and therefore, a better understanding of the natural carbon cycle.
