Small, mountain rivers play big role in ocea...( BOSTON -- Shallow streams that wind thr...)

The finding means that even small, mountainous islands may have a big impact on the environmental condition of the world's oceans, said Anne Carey, assistant professor of geological sciences.

Carey and Carmen Nezat, a former research scientist at Ohio State, presented these results November 7 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Boston.

The geologists found that rivers in Taiwan yield up to 75 times more sediment than the average river worldwide, and rivers in New Zealand yield up to 175 times more.

Scientists study the chemical content of water entering the oceans to gauge the overall health of the environment, Carey explained. Carbon is one important element that washes away from island soils and enters the planet's oceans, where it could play a role in global climate change, she said.

"People who study sediments originally overlooked these small islands, because the volume of water they release into the oceans is correspondingly small," Carey said. "But the role of these islands in the ocean's geochemistry is important."

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Contact: Anne Carey
Carey.145@osu.edu
614-292-2375
Ohio State University
7-Nov-2001