Does Arctic warming reduce preservation of organic matter in Barents Sea sediments?

ABSTRACT: Over the last few decades, the Barents Sea experienced substantial warming, an expansion of relatively warm Atlantic water and a reduction in sea ice cover. This environmental change forces the entire Barents Sea ecosystem to adapt and restructure and therefore changes in pelagic-benthic coupling, organic matter sedimentation and long-term carbon sequestration are expected. Here we combine new and existing organic and inorganic geochemical surface sediment data from the western Barents Sea and show a clear link between the modern ecosystem structure, sea ice cover and the organic carbon and CaCO₃ contents in Barents Sea surface sediments. Furthermore, we discuss the sources of total and reactive iron phases and evaluate the spatial distribution of organic carbon bound to reactiv

SUBMITTER: Faust JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7481662 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature