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Title:: Rock Weathering Rates and Carbon Sink Calculation in Liaohe River Watershed, China

Author(s):: PENG Yi-ni; CHEN Yang; LI Shi-lei; 1. Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, China; 2. School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, China; 3. Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Climate Change, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, China

Keywords:: weathering; water chemistry; element geochemistry; forward modeling method; human activity; weathering rate; flux of CO₂ consumption; Liaohe river watershed

Abstract:: Rock weathering is an important carbon sink process in global carbon cycle. The rock weathering process in Liaohe river watershed was studied with the methods of water chemistry and element geochemistry. The hydrochemical characteristics of main river and reservoir waters in Liaohe river watershed were analyzed. Based on the forward method model, the chemical composition of river water in Liaohe river watershed is dominated by rock weathering, which is mainly affected by carbonate weathering and human activities(livestock breeding, agriculture, industry, etc.). The carbonate weathering rate in Liaohe river watershed is 12.99 t·km^-2 per year, The silicate weathering rate is 2.27 t·km^-2 per year, and the rock weathering rate is less than the average of global main river watersheds. The CO₂ consumption by carbonate weathering is 14.66×10⁹ mol per year, and that by silicate weathering is 6.40×10⁹ mol per year, which both are lower than that of global most river watersheds.