Dissolved inorganic carbon dynamics in the waters surrounding forested mangroves of the Ca Mau Province (Vietnam)

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and ancillary data were obtained during the dry and rainy seasons in the waters surrounding two 10-year-old forested mangrove sites (Tam Giang and Kiên Vàng) located in the Ca Mau Province (South-West Vietnam). During both seasons, the spatial variations of partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) were marked, with values ranging from 704 ppm to 11481 ppm during the dry season, and from 1209 ppm to 8136 ppm during the rainy season. During both seasons, DIC, pCO2, total alkalinity (TAlk) and oxygen saturation levels (%O2) were correlated with salinity in the mangrove creeks suggesting that a combination of lower water volume and longer residence time (leading to an increase in salinity due to evaporation) enhanced the enrichment in DIC, pCO2 and TAlk, and an impoverishment in O2. The low O2 and high DIC and pCO2 values suggest that heterotrophic processes in the water column and sediments controlled these variables. The latter processes were meaningful since the high DIC and TAlk values in the creek waters were related to some extent to the influx of pore waters, consistent with previous observations. This was confirmed by the stochiometric relationship between TAlk and DIC that shows that anaerobic processes control these variables, although this approach did not allow identifying unambiguously the dominant diagenetic carbon degradation pathway. During the rainy season, dilution led to significant decreases of salinity, TAlk and DIC in both mangrove creeks and adjacent main channels. In the Kiên Vàng mangrove creeks a distinct increase of pCO2 and decrease of %O2 were observed. The increase of TSM suggested enhanced inputs of organic matter probably from land surrounding the mangrove creeks, that could have led to higher benthic and water column heterotrophy. However, the flushing of water enriched in dissolved CO2 originating from soil respiration and impoverished in O2 could also have explained to some extent the patterns observed during the rainy season. Seasonal variations of pCO2 were more pronounced in the Kiên Vàng mangrove creeks than in the Tam Giang mangrove creeks. The air–water CO2 fluxes were 5 times higher during the rainy season than during the dry season in the Kiên Vàng mangrove creeks. In the Tam Giang mangrove creeks, the air–water CO2 fluxes were similar during both seasons. The air–water CO2 fluxes ranged from 27.1 mmol C m−2 d−1 to 141.5 mmol C m−2 d−1 during the dry season, and from 81.3 mmol m−2 d−1 to 154.7 mmol m−2 d−1 during the rainy season. These values are within the range of values previously reported in other mangrove creeks and confirm that the emission of CO2 from waters surrounding mangrove forests are meaningful for the carbon budgets of mangrove forests.