Dual carbon isotope (δ¹³C and Δ¹⁴C) characterization of particulate organic carbon in the Geum and Seomjin estuaries, South Korea

We investigated the source, composition, and reactivity of particulate organic carbon (POC) in two contrasting Korean estuary systems, a closed estuary (Geum) (i.e., with an estuary dam at the river mouth) and an open (Seomjin) estuary. A dual isotope (δ¹³C_POC and Δ¹⁴C_POC) approach was applied to surface water samples collected along a salinity gradient in August 2016. Our results indicate that phytoplankton-derived POC was the main contributor to the total POC pool in the reservoir of the Geum estuary, while terrestrial-derived POC predominated the upper Seomjin estuary. A simple binary mixing model using Δ¹⁴C_POC revealed a higher modern POC contribution (87-90%) in the Geum estuary reservoir than that (77%) of the upper Seomjin estuary. Accordingly, it appears that an estuary dam can alter the source and reactivity of POC in a reservoir, which can be transferred to the adjacent coastal ecosystem.