Aquatic humic and fulvic acids from nine mainstem and seven major tributary sites in the Amazon River Basin are characterized by their elemental and lignin phenol compositions. Combined humic substances represent 60% of the riverine dissolved organic carbon (DOC), with fulvic to humic acid (FA : HA) ratios in the mainstem averaging 4.7 -t 1 .O. All dissolved humic and fulvic acids have clearly recognizable lignin components at levels (8 and 3% of the carbon) suggesting a predominantly allochthonous source. Lignin compositional characteristics are dominated by diagenetic transformations, which include preferential loss of methoxylated structural units and oxidative degradation of lignin side chains. Fulvic acids have consistently lower lignin levels, lower lignin phenol methoxylation, higher acid : aldehyde ratios, and higher C : N ratios than coexisting humic acids, all indicative of greater aerobic degradation of the fulvic acid fraction. An extreme example of lignin degradation is seen in the Rio Negro humic and fulvic acids, which differ significantly in lignin and elemental compositions from other blackwater tributary and mainstem samples.Over most of the mainstem humic and fulvic acids behave conservatively. However, downstream of the Rio Negro confluence, humic acids appear to be selectively adsorbed onto fine suspended particles. Approximately 25 and 40% of the total fluxes of lignin and of carbon are represented in the dissolved humic substances. The annual flux of dissolved, chemically recognizable lignin in the Amazon River at 6bidos is calculated to be 1.2 x 10" g yr-*.

SUMMARYMeasurements of energy partition for Amazonian forest made with novel eddy correlation equipment are presented for eight dry days in September 1983. These are interpreted to provide estimates of the aerodynamic and surface resistance for this vegetation type. Daily total evaporation for a transpiring canopy accounts for 70% of the available radiant energy, and is two thirds of conventional estimates of potential evaporation. The results are used to provide an initial calibration of a simple, physically based model of daily evaporation for Amazonian rain forest.

ResumoContribuição ao estudo do clima de Manaus, Amazonas. Para tanto utilizou-se dados da Estação Meteorológica da Reserva Florestal Ducke pertencente ao Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Ama. zônia Foram feitas, a partir desses dados, classificações climática!> pelos métodos de Koppen e Thornthwaite e apresentadas considerações sobre os valores extremos dos parâmetros estudados.

SUMMÂRY Raín^atí data fiegtòtzAdd

Resumo Neste trabalho, foi estudada a relação entre intensidade-freqüência-duração das precipitações ocorridas desde 1965 na Estação Climatológica Principal da Reserva Florestal Ducke, pertencente ao Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, localizada no Km 26 da Rodovia Torquato Tapajós. A distribuição de freqüência proposta por Gumbel e uma distribuição exponencial foram ajustadas às Séries de Intensidades Máximas Anuais e Séries Parciais formadas. Determinou-se o grau de ajustamento dessas distribuições aos dados observados para precipitações com duração de 10 minutos.