The dynamic of organic carbon in South Cameroon: fluxes in a tropical river system and a lake system as a varying sink on a glacial–interglacial time scale

In the first attempt to estimate both (i) a bulk carbon flux in a tropical river system (mainly Sanaga River) and (ii) their palaeoenvironmental implications from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the present, this study presents a synthetic approach based on the combined use of modern evaluation of fluxes and estuarine biodegradation in the tropical river system Sanaga and nearby Douala Bay rivers, and of sedimentation rates of a well studied marine shelf and lake system (Barombi-Mbo). In the lake Barombi-Mbo, the Holocene transfer of particulate carbon (96.6×10 3 t) is very close to the mass fixed presently in soil catchments (117×10 3 t). A complete process of stored carbon consumption would require some 10 4 years, namely the Holocene period. During the last 20,000 years, variations in the sediment organic matter can be explained by the change of the vegetation cover, particularly with the substitution of open environments by forests. The global sedimentation was slow between ca. 18,000 and 10,000 years BP and increased after 12,000 years. But the carbon sedimentation rate remains fairly constant as the carbon content is higher in the LGM deposits. Such LGM carbon concentrations are probably explained by the input of coarse debris by rough floods and by a less degraded organic matter as a result of the cooling of the climate. Today, the total transport of dissolved and particulate organic carbon of the Sanaga and Douala Bay rivers to the Guinea Gulf is estimated as 0.62 to 0.79×10 6 t C yr −1. Based on 50% biodegradation at the estuarine interface, the loss of organic matter per unit of land is evaluated around 8.8 t C km −2 yr −1. Marine oceanic records of the carbon sedimentation rate reflect with difficulty the major palaeoenvironmental changes according to interfering hydrodynamic factors. The greatest input of organic carbon during warm marine biozones would be balanced by higher concentrations during the LGM resulting in a nearly homogenous carbon transfer during the last 20,000 years. Such results might be largely representative of tropical river system as the contrasting vegetal cover (savanna and forest) of the Sanaga basin reflected as well the majority of the intertropical ecosystem. Thus, an estimate of the Holocene transfer to the ocean up to four times the present carbon stored in soil of the surrounding continent implicates that the Holocene shelf was a significant organic carbon sink. Although the sources of the Sanaga River are located