Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-613
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-613
01 Aug 2022
 | 01 Aug 2022

Hyporheic Zone Respiration is Jointly Constrained by Organic Carbon Concentration and Molecular Richness

James C. Stegen, Vanessa A. Garayburu-Caruso, Robert E. Danczak, Amy E. Goldman, Lupita Renteria, Joshua M. Torgeson, and Jacqueline R. Hager

Abstract. River corridors are fundamental components of the Earth system, and their biogeochemistry can be heavily influenced by processes in subsurface zones immediately below the riverbed, referred to as the hyporheic zone. Within the hyporheic zone, organic matter (OM) fuels microbial respiration, and OM chemistry heavily influences aerobic and anaerobic biogeochemical processes. The link between OM chemistry and respiration has been hypothesized to be mediated by OM molecular diversity, whereby respiration is predicted to decrease with increasing diversity. Here we test the specific prediction that aerobic respiration rates will decrease with increases in the number of unique organic molecules (i.e., OM molecular richness, as a measure of diversity). We use publicly available data across the United States from crowdsourced samples taken by the Worldwide Hydrobiogeochemical Observation Network for Dynamic River Systems (WHONDRS) consortium. Our continental-scale analyses rejected the hypothesis of a direct limitation of respiration by OM molecular richness. In turn, we found that organic carbon (OC) concentration imposes a primary constraint over hyporheic zone respiration, with additional potential influences of OM richness. We specifically observed respiration rates to decrease nonlinearly with the ratio of OM richness to OC concentration. This relationship took the form of a constraint space with respiration rates in most systems falling below the constraint boundary. A similar, but slightly weaker, constraint boundary was observed when relating respiration rate to the inverse of OC concentration. These results indicate that maximum respiration rates may be governed primarily by OC concentration, with secondary influences from OM richness. Our results also show that other variables often suppress respiration rates below the maximum associated with the richness-to-concentration ratio. An important focus of future research efforts will identify factors that suppress hyporheic zone respiration below the constraint boundaries observed here.

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

18 Jul 2023
Maximum respiration rates in hyporheic zone sediments are primarily constrained by organic carbon concentration and secondarily by organic matter chemistry
James C. Stegen, Vanessa A. Garayburu-Caruso, Robert E. Danczak, Amy E. Goldman, Lupita Renteria, Joshua M. Torgeson, and Jacqueline Hager
Biogeosciences, 20, 2857–2867, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2857-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2857-2023, 2023
Short summary

James C. Stegen et al.

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-613', Frederick Colwell, 15 Oct 2022
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', James Stegen, 20 Jan 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-613', Anonymous Referee #2, 29 Nov 2022
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', James Stegen, 20 Jan 2023

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-613', Frederick Colwell, 15 Oct 2022
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', James Stegen, 20 Jan 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-613', Anonymous Referee #2, 29 Nov 2022
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', James Stegen, 20 Jan 2023

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
ED: Reconsider after major revisions (23 Jan 2023) by Andrew Thurber
AR by James Stegen on behalf of the Authors (27 Feb 2023)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (12 Mar 2023) by Andrew Thurber
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (19 May 2023)
ED: Publish as is (23 May 2023) by Andrew Thurber
AR by James Stegen on behalf of the Authors (05 Jun 2023)  Author's response   Manuscript 

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

18 Jul 2023
Maximum respiration rates in hyporheic zone sediments are primarily constrained by organic carbon concentration and secondarily by organic matter chemistry
James C. Stegen, Vanessa A. Garayburu-Caruso, Robert E. Danczak, Amy E. Goldman, Lupita Renteria, Joshua M. Torgeson, and Jacqueline Hager
Biogeosciences, 20, 2857–2867, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2857-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2857-2023, 2023
Short summary

James C. Stegen et al.

James C. Stegen et al.

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The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.

Short summary
Chemical reactions in river sediments influence how clean the water is and how much greenhouse gas comes out of a river. Our study investigates why some sediments have higher rates of chemical reactions than others. We find that to achieve high rates, sediments need to have two things: only a few different kinds of molecules, but a lot of them. This result spans about 80 rivers such that it could be a general rule helpful for predicting the future of rivers and our planet.