ALBERT

Description: The modern-day Godavari River transports large amounts of sediment (170 Tg per year) and terrestrial organic carbon (OCterr; 1.5 Tg per year) from peninsular India to the Bay of Bengal. The flux and nature of OCterr is considered to have varied in response to past climate and human forcing. In order to delineate the provenance and nature of organic matter (OM) exported by the fluvial system and establish links to sedimentary records accumulating on its adjacent continental margin, the stable and radiogenic isotopic composition of bulk OC, abundance and distribution of long-chain fatty acids (LCFA), sedimentological properties (e.g. grain size, mineral surface area etc.) of fluvial (riverbed and riverbank) sediments and soils from the Godavari basin were analysed and these characteristics were compared to those of a sediment core retrieved from the continental slope depocenter. Results show that river sediments from the upper catchment exhibit higher total organic carbon (TOC) contents than those from the lower part of the basin. The general relationship between TOC and sedimentological parameters (i.e., mineral-specific surface area and grain size) of the sediments suggests that sediment mineralogy, largely driven by provenance, plays an important role in the stabilization of OM during transport along the river axis, and in preservation of OM exported by the Godavari to the Bay of Bengal. The stable carbon isotopic (δ13C) characteristics of river sediments and soils indicate that the upper mainstream and its tributaries drain catchments exhibiting more 13C enriched carbon than the lower stream resulting from the regional vegetation gradient and/or net balance between the upper (C4-dominated plants) and lower (C3-dominated plants) catchments. The radiocarbon contents of organic carbon (Δ14COC) in deep soils and eroding riverbanks suggests these are likely sources of “old” or pre-aged carbon to the Godavari River that increasingly dominates the late Holocene portion of the offshore sedimentary record. Reduced monsoonal rainfall and sediment transport impeded by recent dam constructions have drastically impacted the flux, loci and composition of OC exported from the modern Godavari basin, rendering it challenging to reconcile modern-day river geochemistry with that recorded in continental margin sediments.

Description: Geochemical data, brGDGT fractions and calculated indices for soils and river samples during the wet and dry season in the Madre de Dios catchment, Peru.

Description: This dataset is a compilation of δ18O and δD values in river surface waters of Indian Rivers reported in the literature (n=399) in the pre-monsoon and monsoon season. This includes the Coastal Rivers draining the Western Ghats into the Arabian Sea, Peninsular Rivers flowing into the Bay of Bengal and Himalayan Rivers with the major Indus and Ganges River.

Description: In this dataset, the branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) data in a creek catchment located in southwest England are included, with 78 soil samples along 14 soil transects from hilltop to downslope, including 31 arable land sites, 14 permanent grassland sites, 24 temporary grassland (ley) sites and 5 woodland sites, 7 riverbed sediments at three locations along each of the two tributaries (upstream, midstream and downstream), and one more at the joint outlet, and a 50 cm long sediment core in the lake, which is about 150 m away from the joint outlet. The soils or sediments were freeze dried and homogenized, and then they were extracted with dichloromethane (DCM):MeOH (9:1, v/v) with an accelerated solvent extractor to obtain the total lipid extracts (TLEs). After adding of a known amount of internal standard, the TLEs were dried under a nitrogen stream, and then separated into apolar and polar fractions by passing them over an activated aluminum oxide column (Al2O3). The polar fractions containing GDGTs were evaporated under a gentle nitrogen stream, and then the samples were re-dissolved in a hexane:isopropanol (99:1, v/v) and filtrated through a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filter for UHPLC analyzing.

Description: This dataset contains physicochemical parameters (Electrical Conductivity, Temperature) and stable water isotope measurements of river surface waters and depth profiles in the Godavari River basin, India, in the pre-monsoon and monsoon season.

Description: The concentration and fractional abundance of branched Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers (brGDGTs), including 5-methyl and 6-methyl isomers, were investigated in the soils, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and riverbed sediments of the Godavari River basin, the largest non-Himalayan river in India and fed by the Southwest monsoon. Surface soils (0-10 cm) were collected near the Godavari River, and SPM and riverbed sediments were collected in a dry (February/March) and wet season (July/August) in 2015. Crenarchaeol was measured, as well as pH, TOC, and soil and sediment geochemistry.

Description: The concentration and fractional abundance of isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (isoGDGTs) were investigated in the soils, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and riverbed sediments of the Godavari River basin, the largest non-Himalayan river in India and fed by the Southwest monsoon. Surface soils (0-10 cm) were collected near the Godavari River, and SPM and riverbed sediments were collected in a dry (February/March) and wet season (July/August) in 2015.

Description: %OC, %TN, δ13C and δ15N analysed in C3 and C4 plants, soils, SPM and riverbed sediments in the Godavari River basin (India), located in the Core Monsoon Zone. Above-ground plant parts of C3 and C4 vegetation were collected at the end of the dry season (February/March 2015) across the Godavari basin, including trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, grasses and dominant crops. Surface soils (0-10 cm) were collected near the Godavari River, and SPM (10-80 L, filtered over 0.7 μm GFF filters) and bulk and fine (≤63 μm) riverbed sediments were collected in a dry (February/March 2015) and wet season (July/August 2015). Mean Annual Precipitation (MAP) data were retrieved from Dearing Crampton-Flood et al. (2019) (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.907818) and India Water Resources Information System (https://indiawris.gov.in/)