6533b86ffe1ef96bd12ce606

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Revisiting the disappearance of terrestrial dissolved organic matter in the ocean: a <i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C study

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Abstract. Organic carbon (OC) depleted in 13C is a widely used tracer for terrestrial OM in aquatic systems. Photochemical reactions can however change δ13C of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) when chromophoric, aromatic-rich terrestrial OC is selectively mineralized. We assessed the robustness of the δ13C signature of DOC (δ13CDOC) as a tracer for terrestrial OM by estimating its change during the photobleaching of chromophoric DOM (CDOM) from ten large rivers. These rivers cumulatively account for approximately 1/3 of the world's freshwater discharge to the global ocean. Photobleaching of CDOM by simulated solar radiation was associated with the photochemical mineralization of 16 to 43% of the DOC and, by preferentially removing compounds depleted in 13C, caused a 1 to 2.9‰ enrichment in δ13C in the residual DOC. Such solar radiation-induced photochemical isotopic shift biases the calculations of terrestrial OM discharge in coastal oceans towards the marine end-member. Shifts in terrestrial δ13CDOC should be taken into account when constraining the terrestrial end-member in global calculation of terrestrially derived DOM in the world ocean.