A preliminary note on carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotopic composition of Po River suspended load

We present a preliminary note on the carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotopic composition of the suspended load of the Po River, i.e., of the more important river of Italy, sampled in distinct hydrological periods. This paper explains thoroughly the sampling and the employed EA-IRMS analytical method. The results are discussed to (a) discriminate natural (geogenic) and anthropogenic components, (b) delineate geochemical fluxes transferred from the Po River to the Adriatic Sea. The analyses of total carbon (TC between 2.7 and 5.4 wt%; δ13C between −16.1 and −7.5 ‰), properly speciated in its organic (OC between 1.0 and 2.2 wt%; δ13C between −25.1 and −19.7 ‰) and inorganic (IC between 0.9 and 3.5 wt%; δ13C between −0.2 and −3.3 ‰) components are useful to understand the provenance (Alps vs. Apennine) of the particles, whereas the analyses on nitrogen (TN between 0.1 and 0.6 wt%; δ15N between 2.4 and 9.0 ‰) give insights on the pollution affecting the river. The data can be useful to constrain models that investigate the nutrient loads conveyed by the river toward the Adriatic costal ecosystem that is affected by frequent eutrophication processes.