Carbon Budgets in Coastal Estuaries of the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico Under Hydrologic Control

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dc.contributor.advisorHu, Xinping
dc.contributor.authorYao, Hongming
dc.contributor.committeeMemberMontagna, Paul
dc.contributor.committeeMemberShinoda, Toshiaki
dc.contributor.committeeMemberJin, Lei
dc.creator.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7083-3583
dc.creator.orcid0000-0001-7083-3583en_US
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-10T02:05:58Z
dc.date.available2020-05-10T02:05:58Z
dc.date.issued2019-08
dc.description.abstractGlobally, estuaries are considered as important CO2 sources to the atmosphere. However, previous studies on estuarine carbon fluxes have mostly focused on temperate and high latitude regions, leaving a significant knowledge gap in subtropical and tropical estuaries. In addition, the drivers that cause large spatiotemporal variability in estuarine inorganic and organic carbon fluxes remain insufficiently explored. In this dissertation, carbon budgets in four northwestern Gulf of Mexico (nwGOM) estuaries along a climatic gradient, Lavaca-Colorado Estuary (LCE), Guadalupe Estuary (GE), Mission-Aransas Estuary (MAE), and Nueces Estuary (NE), were -2 -1 evaluated. All these estuaries, with annual CO2 emission ranging 2.7—35.9 mol·C·m ·y , are moderate to strong CO2 sources. However, there was large spatiotemporal variability that corresponded to changes in hydrologic conditions. The two northern estuaries (LCE and GE), due to larger riverine discharges, had an order of magnitude higher CO2 emissions than the southern estuaries (MAE and NE). In addition, episodic flooding made the entire regional CO2 fluxes differ significantly under dry (-0.7—20.9 mmol·C·m-2·d-1) and wet (11.6—170.0 mmol·C·m-2·d-1) conditions. A mass balance model for carbon budget predicted lateral transport of total organic matter (TOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from tidal wetlands, which accounted for ~95% and 70% of total TOC and DIC inputs to the open estuarine water, respectively. However, the loss of coastal saltmarsh-mangrove habitats due to sea level rise could result in ~1% per year decline in estuarine CO2 fluxes at the expense of decreasing lateral carbon transport. Finally, this dissertation suggested that the average estuarine CO2 flux from nwGOM was about 8 times higher than previously estimated North America estuarine CO2 flux. Additionally, flooding condition was estimated to elevate CO2 emission and lateral fluxes by 10 times in this region.en_US
dc.description.collegeCollege of Science and Engineeringen_US
dc.description.departmentLife Sciencesen_US
dc.format.extent155 pagesen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/87862
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.rightsAttribution 3.0 United States*
dc.rightsThis material is made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with its source. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the author and/or publisher.en_US
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/*
dc.subjectcarbon budgeten_US
dc.subjectcarbonate systemen_US
dc.subjectCO2 fluxen_US
dc.subjecthydrologic controlen_US
dc.subjectlateral transporten_US
dc.subjectriverine inflowen_US
dc.titleCarbon Budgets in Coastal Estuaries of the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico Under Hydrologic Controlen_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dc.type.genreDissertationen_US
dcterms.typeText
thesis.degree.disciplineCoastal and Marine System Scienceen_US
thesis.degree.grantorTexas A & M University--Corpus Christien_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US

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