Freshwater bivalve shells as hydrologic archives in the Congo Basin

[en] We test the applicability of bivalve shell oxygen isotope composition to reconstruct hydrological dynamics in four riverine sites in the Congo River basin. Twenty-three specimens from the Unionoida order were collected from locations where long-term discharge data are available, and in situ measurements and water samples were collected over several years. Due to the highly variable (species-specific) shell morphology, various sampling techniques were used to analyze the shell sections; however, every specimen recorded the seasonality of the host water oxygen stable isotope composition (δ 18 O w ) in its δ 18 O shell record. Discharge data showed an inverse relationship with δ 18 O w values, which was well described with a logarithmic fit. An exception was the Kasai River, where the δ 18 O w record shows an additional peak occurring during the high discharge period, which renders the discharge-δ 18 O w relationship more complex than in the other systems investigated. Low ratios of maximum to minimum discharge (Q max /Q min ) were found to result in a low δ 18 O w amplitude, which was reflected as low δ 18 O shell variability. The Congo and Kasai rivers had Q max /Q min ratios ~2 to 2.5, while the Oubangui showed a much higher Q max /Q min (~19). Shells correspondingly showed a large δ 18 O shell range (amplitude between 2.4 and 5.0‰) for individual Oubangui shells, and lower amplitude for other sites (1.0 to 2.2‰). Thus, shells have a high resolving power to be used to record hydrological variability, since long-term changes in precipitation pattern, discharge, land-use change, or other hydrological changes have an influence on δ 18 O w values. Shells with wide range of δ 18 O values reflect high seasonal variability in rivers, while shells with lower δ 18O amplitude correspond to sites with more steady river conditions over the year. Our study illustrates that fossil shell δ 18 O values could indicate Q max /Q min values in ancient African river systems.

Research center :

FOCUS - Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch - ULiège

Disciplines :

Aquatic sciences & oceanology

Author, co-author :

Kelemen, Z

Gillikin, DP

Borges, Alberto ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Chemical Oceanography Unit (COU)

Tambwe, E

Sembaito, AT

Mambo, T

Nlandu Wabakhangazi, J

Yambélé, A

Stroobandt, Y

Bouillon, S

Language :

English

Title :

Freshwater bivalve shells as hydrologic archives in the Congo Basin

Publication date :

19 June 2021

Journal title :

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

ISSN :

0016-7037

eISSN :

1872-9533

Publisher :

Elsevier, United Kingdom

Volume :

308

Issue :

Pages :

101-117

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

European Projects :

FP7 - 240002 - AFRIVAL - African river basins: catchment-scale carbon fluxes and transformations.

Name of the research project :

AFRIVAL

Funders :

CE - Commission Européenne [BE]

Available on ORBi :

since 12 May 2021

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