New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments
The protection of organic carbon through association with iron minerals (FeR) is an important factor in its stabilisation, long-term storage, and burial efficiency in marine sediments. However, large uncertainties still exist concerning the sources, lability, age, and composition of the organic matt...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
IOP Science
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532712/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532712/1/Faust_2023_Environ._Res._Lett._18_014006.pdf https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 |
id |
ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:532712 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:532712 2023-05-15T14:26:54+02:00 New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments Faust, Johan C. Ascough, Philippa Hilton, Robert G. Stevenson, Mark Hendry, Katherine R. März, Christian 2022-12-15 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532712/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532712/1/Faust_2023_Environ._Res._Lett._18_014006.pdf https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 en eng IOP Science https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532712/1/Faust_2023_Environ._Res._Lett._18_014006.pdf Faust, Johan C.; Ascough, Philippa; Hilton, Robert G.; Stevenson, Mark; Hendry, Katherine R. orcid:0000-0002-0790-5895 März, Christian. 2022 New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments. Environmental Research Letters, 18 (1), 014006. 12, pp. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 <https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2022 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 2023-02-04T19:53:18Z The protection of organic carbon through association with iron minerals (FeR) is an important factor in its stabilisation, long-term storage, and burial efficiency in marine sediments. However, large uncertainties still exist concerning the sources, lability, age, and composition of the organic matter associated with FeR in natural sediments. Therefore, the timing and environmental setting of the carbon-iron bonding process remain elusive. Here we use radiocarbon (Δ14C) and stable isotopes (δ13C) of downcore bulk sedimentary organic matter, benthic foraminifera and the organic carbon fraction bound to FeR to interrogate the source and age of the organic carbon pool associated with FeR in Arctic marine sediments. In the Barents Sea, we find that the organic carbon associated with FeR is younger overall than the bulk organic matter and is probably marine derived. The comparison to other investigations of OC-FeR origins reveals that in large parts of Arctic shelf regions FeR associated organic carbon is radiocarbon enriched and has a higher δ13Corg value compared to the bulk sediment, irrespective of sediment depth/age. Our findings suggest a rapid and preferential binding of fresh and marine organic matter with FeR. Hence, labile organic matter prone to decomposition is protected and stabilised, underlining the potential of the organic carbon-iron association as an efficient carbon burial mechanism. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Barents Sea Foraminifera* Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Arctic Barents Sea Environmental Research Letters 18 1 014006 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
The protection of organic carbon through association with iron minerals (FeR) is an important factor in its stabilisation, long-term storage, and burial efficiency in marine sediments. However, large uncertainties still exist concerning the sources, lability, age, and composition of the organic matter associated with FeR in natural sediments. Therefore, the timing and environmental setting of the carbon-iron bonding process remain elusive. Here we use radiocarbon (Δ14C) and stable isotopes (δ13C) of downcore bulk sedimentary organic matter, benthic foraminifera and the organic carbon fraction bound to FeR to interrogate the source and age of the organic carbon pool associated with FeR in Arctic marine sediments. In the Barents Sea, we find that the organic carbon associated with FeR is younger overall than the bulk organic matter and is probably marine derived. The comparison to other investigations of OC-FeR origins reveals that in large parts of Arctic shelf regions FeR associated organic carbon is radiocarbon enriched and has a higher δ13Corg value compared to the bulk sediment, irrespective of sediment depth/age. Our findings suggest a rapid and preferential binding of fresh and marine organic matter with FeR. Hence, labile organic matter prone to decomposition is protected and stabilised, underlining the potential of the organic carbon-iron association as an efficient carbon burial mechanism. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Faust, Johan C. Ascough, Philippa Hilton, Robert G. Stevenson, Mark Hendry, Katherine R. März, Christian |
spellingShingle |
Faust, Johan C. Ascough, Philippa Hilton, Robert G. Stevenson, Mark Hendry, Katherine R. März, Christian New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments |
author_facet |
Faust, Johan C. Ascough, Philippa Hilton, Robert G. Stevenson, Mark Hendry, Katherine R. März, Christian |
author_sort |
Faust, Johan C. |
title |
New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments |
title_short |
New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments |
title_full |
New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments |
title_fullStr |
New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments |
title_full_unstemmed |
New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments |
title_sort |
new evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in arctic shelf sediments |
publisher |
IOP Science |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532712/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532712/1/Faust_2023_Environ._Res._Lett._18_014006.pdf https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 |
geographic |
Arctic Barents Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Barents Sea Foraminifera* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Barents Sea Foraminifera* |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532712/1/Faust_2023_Environ._Res._Lett._18_014006.pdf Faust, Johan C.; Ascough, Philippa; Hilton, Robert G.; Stevenson, Mark; Hendry, Katherine R. orcid:0000-0002-0790-5895 März, Christian. 2022 New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments. Environmental Research Letters, 18 (1), 014006. 12, pp. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 <https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
014006 |
_version_ |
1766300384336281600 |