Deposition and fate of organic carbon in floodplains along a tropical semiarid lowland river (Tana River, Kenya)

Inland waters organic carbon (OC) burial by sedimentation has recently been shown to be an important component in river catchment carbon (C) budgets. However, data on OC burial by sedimentation are hitherto largely limited to temperate zones. We investigated the deposition and fate of sediment-associated OC in the floodplains of the tropical lowland Tana River (Kenya), between two main gaging stations (Garissa and Garsen). Freshly deposited surface sediments and sediment cores were sampled and analyzed for OC, total nitrogen content, stable isotope signatures (delta C-13) of OC, and grain size distribution. In addition, we incubated sediment cores to quantify CO2 production as a proxy for OC mineralization. While the floodplain receives sediment with a relatively low OC content (1.56 +/- 0.42%), sediments are enriched with OC inputs from floodplain vegetation to levels above 3%. Sediment cores show a sharp decrease of OC with depth, from 3 to 12% OC in the (sub) surface to less than 1% OC below approximately 60 cm depth. Relatively elevated OC mineralization rates (0.14 +/- 0.07 mol. CO2 kgC(-1) d(-1)) were recorded. We used these data to make a first assessment of the C burial efficiency of the Tana River floodplain. In contrast to what is observed in temperate environments, over 50% of C present in the top layers is lost in less than a century. While significant amounts of OC are buried in the Tana River floodplain, the high rates of postdepositional loss limit the development of a long-term C sink within this tropical floodplain.