The Amazon plume in 2020-2023: its shelf carbon budget and water origin revisited

The Amazon shelf of South America is known to be highly contrasted in its surface carbon dioxide concentrations, from very high concentrations near the estuary, and very low concentrations downstream in the saltier Amazon plume, which results in a great contrast in carbon dioxide exchange with the atmosphere. During three cruises in 2020-2023 (Eurec4A-OA, Tara-Microbiomes legs 5, 6 and 7, Amaryllis), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentration, its isotopic composition (δ¹³C-DIC), the water isotopic composition (d¹⁸O-H₂O and d²H-H₂O), as well as inorganic nutrients and surface CO₂ partial pressure (pCO₂) were measured on the Amazon shelf of South America during three cruises in different seasons. These data are used to better understand mixing in the continuum between river water and open-ocean waters, and the biogeochemical processes taking place on the shelf close to the Amazon and Para river estuaries. The water isotopes are furthermore used to identify different freshwater origins.

The accuracy of the data is discussed as well as its representativeness. The data are then combined to first identify large variations of the river freshwater sources, compatible with 2021 being a year of very large discharge, and 2023 a year of exceptional low discharge. In addition, the data mostly from August and September 2021 identify a smaller influence of sources and sinks of dissolved inorganic carbon in the mixing shelf region than what had been earlier observed during the Amasseds cruise data in November-December 1991, a much lower river discharge period. This indicates that there might be a larger seasonal and/or interannual variability of these processes than what was earlier assessed. Measured pCO₂ data on the Amazon shelf in 2021 are then discussed in this context.