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...
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ftuglasgow:oai:eprints.gla.ac.uk:286172 2023-05-15T14:26:56+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, Katharine R. März, Christian 2023-01 text https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/286172/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/286172/1/286172.pdf en eng IOP Publishing https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/286172/1/286172.pdf Faust, J. C., Ascough, P. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/11034.html> , Hilton, R. G., Stevenson, M., Hendry, K. R. and März, C. (2023) New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments. Environmental Research Letters <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Environmental_Research_Letters.html>, 18(1), 014006. (doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 <https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780>) cc_by_4 CC-BY Articles PeerReviewed 1480 ftuglasgow https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 2022-12-22T23:09:19Z 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* University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications Arctic Barents Sea Environmental Research Letters |
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Open Polar |
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University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications |
op_collection_id |
ftuglasgow |
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, Katharine R. März, Christian |
spellingShingle |
Faust, Johan C. Ascough, Philippa Hilton, Robert G. Stevenson, Mark Hendry, Katharine 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, Katharine 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 Publishing |
publishDate |
1480 |
url |
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/286172/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/286172/1/286172.pdf |
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://eprints.gla.ac.uk/286172/1/286172.pdf Faust, J. C., Ascough, P. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/11034.html> , Hilton, R. G., Stevenson, M., Hendry, K. R. and März, C. (2023) New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments. Environmental Research Letters <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Environmental_Research_Letters.html>, 18(1), 014006. (doi: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 |
_version_ |
1766300437018836992 |