Quantifying Degradative Loss of Terrigenous Organic Carbon in Surface Sediments Across the Laptev and East Siberian Sea.

ABSTRACT: Ongoing permafrost thaw in the Arctic may remobilize large amounts of old organic matter. Upon transport to the Siberian shelf seas, this material may be degraded and released to the atmosphere, exported off-shelf, or buried in the sediments. While our understanding of the fate of permafrost-derived organic matter in shelf waters is improving, poor constraints remain regarding degradation in sediments. Here we use an extensive data set of organic carbon concentrations and isotopes (n = 109) to inventory terrigenous organic carbon (terrOC) in surficial sediments of the Laptev and East Siberian Seas (LS + ESS). Of these ~2.7 Tg terrOC about 55% appear resistant to degradation on a millennial timescale. A first-order degradation rate constant of 1.5 kyr^-1 is derived by combi

SUBMITTER: Broder L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6472576 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature