Seasonal dynamics of carbon recycling in coastal sediments influenced by rivers: assessing the impact of flood inputs in the Rhône River prodelta

The biogeochemical fate of the particulate organic inputs from the Rhône River was studied on a seasonal basis by measuring sediment oxygen uptake rates in the prodelta, both during normal and flood regimes. On a selected set of 10 stations in the prodelta and nearby continental shelf, in situ and laboratory measurements of sediment oxygen demand were performed in early spring and summer 2007 and late spring and winter 2008. In and ex situ sediment Diffusive Oxygen Uptakes (DOU) did not show any significant differences except for shallowest organic rich stations. DOU rates show highest values concentrated close to the river mouth (approx. 20 mmol O2 m-2 d-1) and decrease offshore to values around 4.5 mmol O2 m-2 d-1 preferentially in a south west direction, most likely as the result of the preferential transport of the finest riverine material. Total Oxygen Uptake (TOU) obtained from core incubation showed the same spatial pattern with an averaged TOU/DOU ratio of 1.2± 0.4. Over different seasons, spring summer and late fall, benthic mineralization rates presented this same stable spatial pattern. A flood of the Rhône River occurred in June 2008 and brought up to 30 cm of new soft muddy deposit. Right after this flood, sediment DOU rates close to the river mouth dropped from around 15–20 mmol O2 m-2 d-1 to values close to 10 mmol O2 m-2 d-1, in response to the deposition near the river outlet of low reactivity organic matter associated to fine material. Six months later, the oxygen distribution had relaxed back to its initial stage: the initial spatial distribution was found again underlining the active microbial degradation rates involved and the role of further deposits. These results highlight the rapid response to flood deposits in prodeltaic areas which may act as a suboxic sediment reactor and shorten the relaxation time.