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Carbon burial in the mid-latitude fjords of Scotland

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Carbon_Burial_in_Mid_Full_Version.pdf (2.322Mb)
Date
11/2021
Author
Smeaton, Craig
Yang, Handong
Austin, William
Funder
NERC
Grant ID
NE/R010846/1
Keywords
Fjords
Sedimentation
Radiometric dating
Radiocarbon
Organic carbon
Carbon storage
GE Environmental Sciences
GC Oceanography
QE Geology
Earth-Surface Processes
Global and Planetary Change
Geology
DAS
SDG 13 - Climate Action
SDG 14 - Life Below Water
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Abstract
Fjord sediments are recognized global hotspots for the burial of organic carbon (OC) and as an integral part of the global carbon (C) cycle. Relative to their spatial extent, more OC is trapped and stored in the sediments of fjords than any other marine sedimentary environment. Until recently, our understanding of the rate at which OC accumulates and is buried in mid-latitude fjord sediments was poor, as these systems have largely been overlooked in favour of their high latitude counterparts. In this study, we quantify and explore the drivers of OC burial in the mid-latitude fjords of Scotland. By examining fifteen sediment cores from ten fjords, it is estimated that on average 57.1 ± 10.9 g C m−2 yr−1 accumulates in the sediments of Scottish fjords, exceeding observed OC burial in other vegetated fjord systems. When combined with an understanding of the spatial heterogeneity of the fjord sediments, it is estimated that Scottish fjords bury 84,000 t of OC annually, which is equivalent to the whole North Sea sedimentary system, despite the area of the latter being approximately 190 times larger. These findings highlight that mid-latitude fjords play a more significant role in global carbon cycling than previously thought, providing highly effective burial and storage of OC in fjord sediments.
Citation
Smeaton , C , Yang , H & Austin , W 2021 , ' Carbon burial in the mid-latitude fjords of Scotland ' , Marine Geology , vol. 441 , 106618 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2021.106618
Publication
Marine Geology
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2021.106618
ISSN
0025-3227
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2021.106618
Description
This project was supported by funding from the Scottish Blue Carbon Forum and BBSRC/NERC (ref. BB/M026620/01).
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/25895

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