Degradation of Terrigenous Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Western Arctic Ocean
The largest flux of terrigenous organic carbon into the ocean occurs in dissolved form by way of rivers. The fate of this material is enigmatic; there are numerous reports of conservative behavior over continental shelves, but the only knowledge we have about removal is that it occurs on long unknow...
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2004
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1096175 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1096175 |
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craaas:10.1126/science.1096175 2024-09-15T17:53:14+00:00 Degradation of Terrigenous Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Western Arctic Ocean Hansell, Dennis A. Kadko, David Bates, Nicholas R. 2004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1096175 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1096175 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science volume 304, issue 5672, page 858-861 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 journal-article 2004 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1096175 2024-09-05T04:00:48Z The largest flux of terrigenous organic carbon into the ocean occurs in dissolved form by way of rivers. The fate of this material is enigmatic; there are numerous reports of conservative behavior over continental shelves, but the only knowledge we have about removal is that it occurs on long unknown time scales in the deep ocean. To investigate the removal process, we evaluated terrigenous dissolved organic carbon concentration gradients in the Beaufort Gyre of the western Arctic Ocean, which allowed us to observe the carbon's slow degradation. Using isotopic tracers of water-mass age, we determined that terrigenous dissolved organic carbon is mineralized with a half-life of 7.1 ± 3.0 years, thus allowing only 21 to 32% of it to be exported to the North Atlantic Ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ocean North Atlantic AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Science 304 5672 858 861 |
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AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
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English |
description |
The largest flux of terrigenous organic carbon into the ocean occurs in dissolved form by way of rivers. The fate of this material is enigmatic; there are numerous reports of conservative behavior over continental shelves, but the only knowledge we have about removal is that it occurs on long unknown time scales in the deep ocean. To investigate the removal process, we evaluated terrigenous dissolved organic carbon concentration gradients in the Beaufort Gyre of the western Arctic Ocean, which allowed us to observe the carbon's slow degradation. Using isotopic tracers of water-mass age, we determined that terrigenous dissolved organic carbon is mineralized with a half-life of 7.1 ± 3.0 years, thus allowing only 21 to 32% of it to be exported to the North Atlantic Ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hansell, Dennis A. Kadko, David Bates, Nicholas R. |
spellingShingle |
Hansell, Dennis A. Kadko, David Bates, Nicholas R. Degradation of Terrigenous Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Western Arctic Ocean |
author_facet |
Hansell, Dennis A. Kadko, David Bates, Nicholas R. |
author_sort |
Hansell, Dennis A. |
title |
Degradation of Terrigenous Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Western Arctic Ocean |
title_short |
Degradation of Terrigenous Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Western Arctic Ocean |
title_full |
Degradation of Terrigenous Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Western Arctic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Degradation of Terrigenous Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Western Arctic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Degradation of Terrigenous Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Western Arctic Ocean |
title_sort |
degradation of terrigenous dissolved organic carbon in the western arctic ocean |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1096175 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1096175 |
genre |
Arctic Ocean North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ocean North Atlantic |
op_source |
Science volume 304, issue 5672, page 858-861 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1096175 |
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Science |
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304 |
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5672 |
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858 |
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861 |
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1810295246427258880 |