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 |
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IOP Science
2023
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Online Access: | http://dro.dur.ac.uk/38152/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/38152/1/38152.pdf https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 |
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ftunivdurham:oai:dro.dur.ac.uk.OAI2:38152 2023-05-15T14:52:33+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 A Hendry, Katharine R Marz, Christian 2023 application/pdf http://dro.dur.ac.uk/38152/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/38152/1/38152.pdf https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 unknown IOP Science dro:38152 issn:1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/38152/ https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/38152/1/38152.pdf Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits any use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. Environmental Research Letters, 2023, Vol.18(1) [Peer Reviewed Journal] Article PeerReviewed 2023 ftunivdurham https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 2023-03-16T23:26:38Z 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 Barents Sea Foraminifera* Durham University: Durham Research Online Arctic Barents Sea Environmental Research Letters 18 1 014006 |
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Durham University: Durham Research Online |
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ftunivdurham |
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unknown |
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 A Hendry, Katharine R Marz, Christian |
spellingShingle |
Faust, Johan C Ascough, Philippa Hilton, Robert G Stevenson, Mark A Hendry, Katharine R Marz, 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 A Hendry, Katharine R Marz, 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 |
2023 |
url |
http://dro.dur.ac.uk/38152/ http://dro.dur.ac.uk/38152/1/38152.pdf https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 |
geographic |
Arctic Barents Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea |
genre |
Arctic Barents Sea Foraminifera* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Foraminifera* |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, 2023, Vol.18(1) [Peer Reviewed Journal] |
op_relation |
dro:38152 issn:1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/38152/ https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca780 http://dro.dur.ac.uk/38152/1/38152.pdf |
op_rights |
Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits any use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. |
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 |
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1766323785466642432 |