Particle shuttling and oxidation capacity of sedimentary organic carbon on the Baltic Sea system scale

Madeleine M. Nilsson; Astrid Hylén; Nils Ekeroth; Mikhail Y. Kononets; Lena Viktorsson; Elin Almroth-Rosell; Per Roos; Anders Tengberg; Per O.J. Hall

doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2021.103963

Particle shuttling and oxidation capacity of sedimentary organic carbon on the Baltic Sea system scale

Madeleine M. Nilsson^*, Astrid Hylén, Nils Ekeroth, Mikhail Y. Kononets, Lena Viktorsson, Elin Almroth-Rosell, Per Roos, Anders Tengberg, Per O.J. Hall

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Continental margin sediments receive most of the particulate organic carbon (POC) deposited on the global seafloor, making them crucial locations in the carbon cycle. However, the complex environments in coastal oceans make it challenging to predict the fate of sedimentary organic carbon (OC) in these areas. Here we use data from 21 sites in the Baltic Sea, representing different biological and physiochemical regimes, to explore controls on sedimentary OC cycling. To this end, we combine in situ measured benthic fluxes of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC; proxy for OC oxidation) with data on sediment properties. In the Gulf of Bothnia, low sedimentary OC oxidation capacities (yearly DIC flux divided by sedimentary POC inventory) were likely caused by a large fraction of terrestrial material in the POC pool, indicated by low sedimentary chlorophyll a content and high (> 10) carbon:nitrogen ratios. The highest OC oxidation capacities were measured at shallow, permanently oxic sites in the Baltic Proper, where bioturbation likely stimulates OC oxidation. The other sites in the Baltic Proper and all stations in the Gulf of Finland displayed increasing OC oxidation capacities with increasing normalised water depth (station depth divided by maximal depth in the basin). This pattern suggests that substantial quantities of POC are shuttled, through repeated cycles of resuspension-redeposition, from shallow erosion-transport (ET) areas to deep accumulation (A) areas. This interpretation was supported by decreasing sediment age and increasing sedimentary inventories of POC and chlorophyll a with normalised water depth. Our calculations indicate that particle shuttling redistributes almost half of the deposited export production from ET areas to A areas in the Baltic Proper, and that substantial amounts of terrestrial organic material are transported through particle shuttling to the deeper parts of the Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia. Depositional setting and POC origin can thus be central factors in predicting the distribution and fate of OC in coastal and shelf sediments.

Original language	English
Article number	103963
Journal	Marine Chemistry
Volume	232
Number of pages	10
ISSN	0304-4203
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2021.103963
Publication status	Published - 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank the captains and crews on R/V ‘Skagerak’, ‘Aranda’, ‘Poseidon’, ‘Alkor’, ‘KBV005’ and ‘Fyrbyggaren’ for support at sea; Henrik Andersson, Dariia Atamanchuk, Susanne Bauer, Stefano Bonaglia and Sarah Conrad for assistance during expeditions; and Johan Ingri, Olaf Pfannkuche and Stefan Sommer for collaboration. This work was supported financially by the Swedish Research Council (VR), the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS), the EU - HYPOX project and the EU – INTAS program .

Keywords

Dissolved inorganic carbon
Organic carbon recycling
Particle shuttling
Resuspension
Sediment

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title = "Particle shuttling and oxidation capacity of sedimentary organic carbon on the Baltic Sea system scale",

abstract = "Continental margin sediments receive most of the particulate organic carbon (POC) deposited on the global seafloor, making them crucial locations in the carbon cycle. However, the complex environments in coastal oceans make it challenging to predict the fate of sedimentary organic carbon (OC) in these areas. Here we use data from 21 sites in the Baltic Sea, representing different biological and physiochemical regimes, to explore controls on sedimentary OC cycling. To this end, we combine in situ measured benthic fluxes of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC; proxy for OC oxidation) with data on sediment properties. In the Gulf of Bothnia, low sedimentary OC oxidation capacities (yearly DIC flux divided by sedimentary POC inventory) were likely caused by a large fraction of terrestrial material in the POC pool, indicated by low sedimentary chlorophyll a content and high (> 10) carbon:nitrogen ratios. The highest OC oxidation capacities were measured at shallow, permanently oxic sites in the Baltic Proper, where bioturbation likely stimulates OC oxidation. The other sites in the Baltic Proper and all stations in the Gulf of Finland displayed increasing OC oxidation capacities with increasing normalised water depth (station depth divided by maximal depth in the basin). This pattern suggests that substantial quantities of POC are shuttled, through repeated cycles of resuspension-redeposition, from shallow erosion-transport (ET) areas to deep accumulation (A) areas. This interpretation was supported by decreasing sediment age and increasing sedimentary inventories of POC and chlorophyll a with normalised water depth. Our calculations indicate that particle shuttling redistributes almost half of the deposited export production from ET areas to A areas in the Baltic Proper, and that substantial amounts of terrestrial organic material are transported through particle shuttling to the deeper parts of the Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia. Depositional setting and POC origin can thus be central factors in predicting the distribution and fate of OC in coastal and shelf sediments.",

keywords = "Dissolved inorganic carbon, Organic carbon recycling, Particle shuttling, Resuspension, Sediment",

author = "Nilsson, {Madeleine M.} and Astrid Hyl{\'e}n and Nils Ekeroth and Kononets, {Mikhail Y.} and Lena Viktorsson and Elin Almroth-Rosell and Per Roos and Anders Tengberg and Hall, {Per O.J.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the captains and crews on R/V {\textquoteleft}Skagerak{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}Aranda{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}Poseidon{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}Alkor{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}KBV005{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}Fyrbyggaren{\textquoteright} for support at sea; Henrik Andersson, Dariia Atamanchuk, Susanne Bauer, Stefano Bonaglia and Sarah Conrad for assistance during expeditions; and Johan Ingri, Olaf Pfannkuche and Stefan Sommer for collaboration. This work was supported financially by the Swedish Research Council (VR), the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS), the EU - HYPOX project and the EU – INTAS program . ",

year = "2021",

doi = "10.1016/j.marchem.2021.103963",

language = "English",

volume = "232",

journal = "Marine Chemistry",

issn = "0304-4203",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Particle shuttling and oxidation capacity of sedimentary organic carbon on the Baltic Sea system scale

AU - Nilsson, Madeleine M.

AU - Hylén, Astrid

AU - Ekeroth, Nils

AU - Kononets, Mikhail Y.

AU - Viktorsson, Lena

AU - Almroth-Rosell, Elin

AU - Roos, Per

AU - Tengberg, Anders

AU - Hall, Per O.J.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the captains and crews on R/V ‘Skagerak’, ‘Aranda’, ‘Poseidon’, ‘Alkor’, ‘KBV005’ and ‘Fyrbyggaren’ for support at sea; Henrik Andersson, Dariia Atamanchuk, Susanne Bauer, Stefano Bonaglia and Sarah Conrad for assistance during expeditions; and Johan Ingri, Olaf Pfannkuche and Stefan Sommer for collaboration. This work was supported financially by the Swedish Research Council (VR), the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS), the EU - HYPOX project and the EU – INTAS program .

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Continental margin sediments receive most of the particulate organic carbon (POC) deposited on the global seafloor, making them crucial locations in the carbon cycle. However, the complex environments in coastal oceans make it challenging to predict the fate of sedimentary organic carbon (OC) in these areas. Here we use data from 21 sites in the Baltic Sea, representing different biological and physiochemical regimes, to explore controls on sedimentary OC cycling. To this end, we combine in situ measured benthic fluxes of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC; proxy for OC oxidation) with data on sediment properties. In the Gulf of Bothnia, low sedimentary OC oxidation capacities (yearly DIC flux divided by sedimentary POC inventory) were likely caused by a large fraction of terrestrial material in the POC pool, indicated by low sedimentary chlorophyll a content and high (> 10) carbon:nitrogen ratios. The highest OC oxidation capacities were measured at shallow, permanently oxic sites in the Baltic Proper, where bioturbation likely stimulates OC oxidation. The other sites in the Baltic Proper and all stations in the Gulf of Finland displayed increasing OC oxidation capacities with increasing normalised water depth (station depth divided by maximal depth in the basin). This pattern suggests that substantial quantities of POC are shuttled, through repeated cycles of resuspension-redeposition, from shallow erosion-transport (ET) areas to deep accumulation (A) areas. This interpretation was supported by decreasing sediment age and increasing sedimentary inventories of POC and chlorophyll a with normalised water depth. Our calculations indicate that particle shuttling redistributes almost half of the deposited export production from ET areas to A areas in the Baltic Proper, and that substantial amounts of terrestrial organic material are transported through particle shuttling to the deeper parts of the Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia. Depositional setting and POC origin can thus be central factors in predicting the distribution and fate of OC in coastal and shelf sediments.

AB - Continental margin sediments receive most of the particulate organic carbon (POC) deposited on the global seafloor, making them crucial locations in the carbon cycle. However, the complex environments in coastal oceans make it challenging to predict the fate of sedimentary organic carbon (OC) in these areas. Here we use data from 21 sites in the Baltic Sea, representing different biological and physiochemical regimes, to explore controls on sedimentary OC cycling. To this end, we combine in situ measured benthic fluxes of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC; proxy for OC oxidation) with data on sediment properties. In the Gulf of Bothnia, low sedimentary OC oxidation capacities (yearly DIC flux divided by sedimentary POC inventory) were likely caused by a large fraction of terrestrial material in the POC pool, indicated by low sedimentary chlorophyll a content and high (> 10) carbon:nitrogen ratios. The highest OC oxidation capacities were measured at shallow, permanently oxic sites in the Baltic Proper, where bioturbation likely stimulates OC oxidation. The other sites in the Baltic Proper and all stations in the Gulf of Finland displayed increasing OC oxidation capacities with increasing normalised water depth (station depth divided by maximal depth in the basin). This pattern suggests that substantial quantities of POC are shuttled, through repeated cycles of resuspension-redeposition, from shallow erosion-transport (ET) areas to deep accumulation (A) areas. This interpretation was supported by decreasing sediment age and increasing sedimentary inventories of POC and chlorophyll a with normalised water depth. Our calculations indicate that particle shuttling redistributes almost half of the deposited export production from ET areas to A areas in the Baltic Proper, and that substantial amounts of terrestrial organic material are transported through particle shuttling to the deeper parts of the Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia. Depositional setting and POC origin can thus be central factors in predicting the distribution and fate of OC in coastal and shelf sediments.

KW - Dissolved inorganic carbon

KW - Organic carbon recycling

KW - Particle shuttling

KW - Resuspension

KW - Sediment

U2 - 10.1016/j.marchem.2021.103963

DO - 10.1016/j.marchem.2021.103963

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85103271145

SN - 0304-4203

VL - 232

JO - Marine Chemistry

JF - Marine Chemistry

M1 - 103963

ER -

Particle shuttling and oxidation capacity of sedimentary organic carbon on the Baltic Sea system scale

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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