Low organic carbon burial efficiency in arctic lake sediments
Many arctic landscapes are rich in lakes that store large quantities of organic carbon in their sediments. While there are indications of highly efficient carbon burial in high-latitude lakes, the magnitude and efficiency of carbon burial in arctic lake sediments, and thus their potential as carbon...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JG002612 |
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fteawag:oai:dora:eawag_7822 2024-09-15T18:09:57+00:00 Low organic carbon burial efficiency in arctic lake sediments Sobek, S. Anderson, N.J. Bernasconi, S.M. Del Sontro, T. 2014 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JG002612 eng eng Wiley Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences--J. Geophys. Res. G--journals:1632--2169-8953--2169-8961 eawag:7822 journal id: journals:1632 issn: 2169-8953 e-issn: 2169-8961 ut: 000340542300012 local: 17104 scopus: 2-s2.0-84904684181 doi:10.1002/2014JG002612 uri: pmid: Text Journal Article 2014 fteawag https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JG002612 2024-08-05T03:04:28Z Many arctic landscapes are rich in lakes that store large quantities of organic carbon in their sediments. While there are indications of highly efficient carbon burial in high-latitude lakes, the magnitude and efficiency of carbon burial in arctic lake sediments, and thus their potential as carbon sinks, has not been studied systematically. We therefore investigated the burial efficiency of organic carbon (OC), defined as the ratio between OC burial and OC deposition onto the sediment, in seven contrasting lakes in western Greenland representing different arctic lake types. We found that the OC burial efficiency was generally low in spite of the differences between lake types (mean 22%, range 11–32%), and comparable to lakes in other climates with similar organic matter source and oxygen exposure time. Accordingly, post-depositional degradation of sediment organic matter was evident in the organic matter C:N ratio, δ 13 C and δ 15 N values during the initial ~50 years after deposition, and proceeds simultaneously with long-term changes in, e.g., productivity and climate. Pore water profiles of dissolved methane suggest that post-depositional degradation may continue for several centuries in these lakes, at very low rates. Our results demonstrate that the regulation of the sediment OC burial efficiency is no different in arctic lakes than in other lakes, implying that the efficiency of the carbon sink in lake sediments depends similarly on environmental conditions irrespective of latitude. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland DORA Eawag Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 119 6 1231 1243 |
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English |
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Many arctic landscapes are rich in lakes that store large quantities of organic carbon in their sediments. While there are indications of highly efficient carbon burial in high-latitude lakes, the magnitude and efficiency of carbon burial in arctic lake sediments, and thus their potential as carbon sinks, has not been studied systematically. We therefore investigated the burial efficiency of organic carbon (OC), defined as the ratio between OC burial and OC deposition onto the sediment, in seven contrasting lakes in western Greenland representing different arctic lake types. We found that the OC burial efficiency was generally low in spite of the differences between lake types (mean 22%, range 11–32%), and comparable to lakes in other climates with similar organic matter source and oxygen exposure time. Accordingly, post-depositional degradation of sediment organic matter was evident in the organic matter C:N ratio, δ 13 C and δ 15 N values during the initial ~50 years after deposition, and proceeds simultaneously with long-term changes in, e.g., productivity and climate. Pore water profiles of dissolved methane suggest that post-depositional degradation may continue for several centuries in these lakes, at very low rates. Our results demonstrate that the regulation of the sediment OC burial efficiency is no different in arctic lakes than in other lakes, implying that the efficiency of the carbon sink in lake sediments depends similarly on environmental conditions irrespective of latitude. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sobek, S. Anderson, N.J. Bernasconi, S.M. Del Sontro, T. |
spellingShingle |
Sobek, S. Anderson, N.J. Bernasconi, S.M. Del Sontro, T. Low organic carbon burial efficiency in arctic lake sediments |
author_facet |
Sobek, S. Anderson, N.J. Bernasconi, S.M. Del Sontro, T. |
author_sort |
Sobek, S. |
title |
Low organic carbon burial efficiency in arctic lake sediments |
title_short |
Low organic carbon burial efficiency in arctic lake sediments |
title_full |
Low organic carbon burial efficiency in arctic lake sediments |
title_fullStr |
Low organic carbon burial efficiency in arctic lake sediments |
title_full_unstemmed |
Low organic carbon burial efficiency in arctic lake sediments |
title_sort |
low organic carbon burial efficiency in arctic lake sediments |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JG002612 |
genre |
Greenland |
genre_facet |
Greenland |
op_relation |
Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences--J. Geophys. Res. G--journals:1632--2169-8953--2169-8961 eawag:7822 journal id: journals:1632 issn: 2169-8953 e-issn: 2169-8961 ut: 000340542300012 local: 17104 scopus: 2-s2.0-84904684181 doi:10.1002/2014JG002612 uri: pmid: |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JG002612 |
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Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
119 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1231 |
op_container_end_page |
1243 |
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1810447552910196736 |