Significant changes in water pCO2 caused by turbulence from waterfalls

Inland waters are sites of intense carbon processing, stocking and transport. We examined the influence of waterfall-turbulence on CO2 partial pressures (pCO2) before and after waterfalls in a tropical river. The results indicated a 51.4% decrease of pCO2 from up (1375 ± 320 ppm) to downriver (655 ± 58 ppm), suggesting an unaccounted degassing promoted by waterfall-turbulence. This process needs to be better understood in order to more accurately determine the role of freshwater environments in the global carbon balance.