Deglacial export of pre-aged terrigenous carbon to the Bay of Biscay
The last deglaciation is the most recent relatively well-documented period of pronounced and fast climate warming, and, as such, it holds important information for our understanding of the climate system. Notably, while research into terrestrial organic carbon reservoirs has been instrumental in exp...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:cp109612 2024-02-11T10:07:51+01:00 Deglacial export of pre-aged terrigenous carbon to the Bay of Biscay Queiroz Alves, Eduardo Wong, Wanyee Hefter, Jens Grotheer, Hendrik Tesi, Tommaso Gentz, Torben Zonneveld, Karin Mollenhauer, Gesine 2024-01-16 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-121-2024 https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/20/121/2024/ eng eng doi:10.5194/cp-20-121-2024 https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/20/121/2024/ eISSN: 1814-9332 Text 2024 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-121-2024 2024-01-22T17:24:16Z The last deglaciation is the most recent relatively well-documented period of pronounced and fast climate warming, and, as such, it holds important information for our understanding of the climate system. Notably, while research into terrestrial organic carbon reservoirs has been instrumental in exploring the possible sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide during periods of rapid change, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Here we investigate the mobilization of organic matter to the Bay of Biscay, located in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of France and Spain. Specifically, we focus on the area that was the mouth of the Channel River during the last deglaciation, where an enhanced terrigenous input has been reported for the last glacial–interglacial transition. We conducted a comprehensive suite of biomarker analyses (e.g. n -alkanes, hopanes and n -alkanoic acids) and isotopic investigations (radiocarbon dating and δ 13 C measurements) on a high-resolution sedimentary archive. The present study provides the first direct evidence for the fluvial supply of immature and ancient terrestrial organic matter to the core location. Moreover, our results reveal the possibility of permafrost carbon export to the ocean, driven by processes such as deglacial warming and glacial erosion. These findings are consistent with observations from other regions characterized by present or past permafrost conditions on land, which have shown that permafrost thaw and glacial erosion can lead to carbon remobilization, potentially influencing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Text permafrost Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Climate of the Past 20 1 121 136 |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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English |
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The last deglaciation is the most recent relatively well-documented period of pronounced and fast climate warming, and, as such, it holds important information for our understanding of the climate system. Notably, while research into terrestrial organic carbon reservoirs has been instrumental in exploring the possible sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide during periods of rapid change, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Here we investigate the mobilization of organic matter to the Bay of Biscay, located in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of France and Spain. Specifically, we focus on the area that was the mouth of the Channel River during the last deglaciation, where an enhanced terrigenous input has been reported for the last glacial–interglacial transition. We conducted a comprehensive suite of biomarker analyses (e.g. n -alkanes, hopanes and n -alkanoic acids) and isotopic investigations (radiocarbon dating and δ 13 C measurements) on a high-resolution sedimentary archive. The present study provides the first direct evidence for the fluvial supply of immature and ancient terrestrial organic matter to the core location. Moreover, our results reveal the possibility of permafrost carbon export to the ocean, driven by processes such as deglacial warming and glacial erosion. These findings are consistent with observations from other regions characterized by present or past permafrost conditions on land, which have shown that permafrost thaw and glacial erosion can lead to carbon remobilization, potentially influencing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. |
format |
Text |
author |
Queiroz Alves, Eduardo Wong, Wanyee Hefter, Jens Grotheer, Hendrik Tesi, Tommaso Gentz, Torben Zonneveld, Karin Mollenhauer, Gesine |
spellingShingle |
Queiroz Alves, Eduardo Wong, Wanyee Hefter, Jens Grotheer, Hendrik Tesi, Tommaso Gentz, Torben Zonneveld, Karin Mollenhauer, Gesine Deglacial export of pre-aged terrigenous carbon to the Bay of Biscay |
author_facet |
Queiroz Alves, Eduardo Wong, Wanyee Hefter, Jens Grotheer, Hendrik Tesi, Tommaso Gentz, Torben Zonneveld, Karin Mollenhauer, Gesine |
author_sort |
Queiroz Alves, Eduardo |
title |
Deglacial export of pre-aged terrigenous carbon to the Bay of Biscay |
title_short |
Deglacial export of pre-aged terrigenous carbon to the Bay of Biscay |
title_full |
Deglacial export of pre-aged terrigenous carbon to the Bay of Biscay |
title_fullStr |
Deglacial export of pre-aged terrigenous carbon to the Bay of Biscay |
title_full_unstemmed |
Deglacial export of pre-aged terrigenous carbon to the Bay of Biscay |
title_sort |
deglacial export of pre-aged terrigenous carbon to the bay of biscay |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-121-2024 https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/20/121/2024/ |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_source |
eISSN: 1814-9332 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/cp-20-121-2024 https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/20/121/2024/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-121-2024 |
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Climate of the Past |
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20 |
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1 |
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121 |
op_container_end_page |
136 |
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1790606665405431808 |