Read the full story from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Over recent years, a team of scientists led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has been immersed in crucial research around the processes and interactions that contribute to greenhouse gas dynamics. Their work focuses on whole networks of streams and rivers, as well as the land surrounding these systems.
Their work also includes factors that can disturb how streams and rivers breathe. Some of these disturbances happen beyond streams, like wildfires, but still impact how streams breathe by changing how material enters streams. Understanding these impacts is key to addressing challenges related to water quality, global carbon cycling, and climate change…
The PNNL team recently showed that the amount of carbon dioxide produced by sediments is linked to the size of rocks that make up riverbeds. Bigger rocks often lead to more breathing. That’s important because the faster sediments breathe, the more they can clean out pollutants from streams and rivers.
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