Benthic carbon mineralization in a high-Arctic sound (Young Sound, NE-Greenland)
Benthic carbon mineralization was investigated along a depth transect across a sound in the high Arctic. Aerobic mineralization accounted for approximately 30% of the total degradation. Anaerobic degradation, responsible for the remaining 70%, was dominated by sulfate- and iron respiration, while de...
Published in: | Marine Ecology Progress Series |
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Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2000
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/da/publications/8f41e650-36c9-11dd-a26c-000ea68e967b https://doi.org/10.3354/meps206059 |
Summary: | Benthic carbon mineralization was investigated along a depth transect across a sound in the high Arctic. Aerobic mineralization accounted for approximately 30% of the total degradation. Anaerobic degradation, responsible for the remaining 70%, was dominated by sulfate- and iron respiration, while denitrification and manganese respiration were of marginal importance. The total benthic degradation rate exhibited a rapidly attenuating exponential decline with increasing water depth. Permanent carbon burial accounted for approximately 50% of the total degradation rate, and was comparable to estimates from similar settings at lower latitudes. At the shallow stations, benthic infauna stimulated the benthic oxygen exchange by a factor of 1.5 to 3 relative to molecular diffusion. However, the estimated metabolic activity of the fauna itself accounted for |
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