New publication by Taylor Maavara and Ecohydrology colleagues on global silica retention by dams

A new publication by PhD student Taylor Maavara and her co-authors Hans Dürr and Philippe Van Cappellen in Global Biogeochemical Cycles estimates the worldwide retention of the nutrient element silicon (Si) by river damming. The authors present a new approach that combines the small data set on Si budgets for dam reservoirs with biogeochemical modeling and statistical analysis. They show that on average dams retain about 20% of the river inflow of Si into reservoirs, or 22.3x10¹² g SiO2 per year globally. For more information, follow the link to the paper: doi:10.1002/2014GB004875.