Controls on Riverine Dissolved Organic Matter Composition Across an Arctic-Boreal Latitudinal Gradient

Climatic changes are transforming northern high-latitude watersheds as permafrost thaws and vegetation and hydrology shift. These changes have implications for the source and reactivity of riverine dissolved organic matter (DOM), and thus biogeochemical cycling, across northern high-latitude systems. In this study, we use a latitudinal gradient from the interior to the North Slope of Alaska to evaluate seasonal and landscape drivers of DOM composition in this changing Arctic environment. To assess DOM source and composition, we used absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy to measure DOM optical properties, lignin biomarker analyses to evaluate vascular plant contribution to the DOM pool, and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) to assess DOM compositional changes. We found that seasonal inputs of DOM at elevated discharge during the freshet were typically more aromatic in nature with higher lignin concentrations and carbon-normalized yields. Landscape characteristics were a major control on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) yields and DOM composition. More northern watersheds, which were steeper, underlain by continuous permafrost, and exhibited a mix of barren and lichen/moss vegetation cover, exported less DOC with relatively more aliphatic DOM compared to more southern basins. Watersheds with deeper active layers exported DOM that was more aromatic with higher polyphenolic and condensed aromatic relative abundances and lignin yields, likely sourced from shallow subsurface flow during high discharge periods. However, contributions from deeper groundwater to streamflow is expected to increase, which would increase interactions of groundwater with mineral soils and decrease aromatic DOM contributions during periods of low discharge.

Automated summary

Climatic changes in high-latitude watersheds are transforming the source and reactivity of riverine dissolved organic matter (DOM), with terrain characteristics playing a major role in determining DOM composition. Northern watersheds export less DOC with relatively more aliphatic DOM, while southern basins have more aromatic DOM with higher lignin concentrations. Shifting vegetation and thawing permafrost are expected to continue impacting DOM characteristics in changing Arctic environments.