Global syndromes induced by changes in solutes of the world's large rivers

Jiang Wu; Nan Xu; Yichu Wang; Wei Zhang; Alistair G L Borthwick; Jinren Ni

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26231-w

Global syndromes induced by changes in solutes of the world's large rivers

Nat Commun. 2021 Oct 12;12(1):5940. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-26231-w.

Authors

Jiang Wu^#^{1

2}, Nan Xu^#², Yichu Wang³, Wei Zhang⁴, Alistair G L Borthwick^{5

6}, Jinren Ni^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of All Materials Fluxes in River Ecosystems, Peking University, 100871, Beijing, P. R. China.
² The Key Laboratory for Heavy Metal Pollution Control and Reutilization, School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, 518055, Shenzhen, P. R. China.
³ College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, P. R. China.
⁴ Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
⁵ Institute of Infrastructure and Environment, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JL, UK.
⁶ School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK.
⁷ State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of All Materials Fluxes in River Ecosystems, Peking University, 100871, Beijing, P. R. China. jinrenni@pku.edu.cn.
⁸ Center for Global Large Rivers, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, 518055, Shenzhen, P. R. China. jinrenni@pku.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Solute-induced river syndromes have grown in intensity in recent years. Here we investigate seven such river syndromes (salinization, mineralization, desalinization, acidification, alkalization, hardening, and softening) associated with global trends in major solutes (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, SO₄^2-, Cl^-, HCO₃^-) and dissolved silica in the world's large rivers (basin areas ≥ 1000 km²). A comprehensive dataset from 600 gauge stations in 149 large rivers reveals nine binary patterns of co-varying trends in runoff and solute concentration. Solute-induced river syndromes are associated with remarkable increases in total dissolved solids (68%), chloride (81%), sodium (86%) and sulfate (142%) fluxes from rivers to oceans worldwide. The syndromes are most prevalent in temperate regions (30~50°N and 30~40°S based on the available data) where severe rock weathering and active human interferences such as urbanization and agricultural irrigation are concentrated. This study highlights the urgency to protect river health from extreme changes in solute contents.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Associated data

figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.14910399