Abstract: As one most important material cycling on the earth, carbon cycling has great implications for global climate change and human well-being. Carbon in rivers could reflect the changes in climate and environment in river basins, and is a key part of the global carbon cycle. The Yangtze River Basin is the largest basin in China, with wide distribution of carbonate rocks, which has huge carbon sequestration potential. Due to the complexity of natural environment change in the Yangtze River Basin, our understanding of water environment carbon cycle under the background of global change is still limited. Here we review the temporal and spatial variations and source of carbon in the water environment and the carbon sink data of rock weathering in the Yangtze River Basin. The source and distribution of organic carbon are mainly affected by human activities. Inorganic carbon mainly comes from the chemical weathering of rocks in the Yangtze River Basin. Rock weathering has great potential in carbon sink. Under the influence of global change, the migration and transformation of these carbonic materials may lead to new ecolo-gical and environmental problems, which is of great significance for predicting future environmental changes. Our work provides a basis for the study of carbon cycle in the Yangtze River Basin.

Key words: carbon cycle, isotope, rock weathering, global change, Yangtze River Basin.