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

Faust, Johan C.; Stevenson, Mark A.; Abbott, Geoffrey D.; Knies, Jochen; Tessin, Allyson; Mannion, Isobel; Ford, Ailbe; Hilton, Robert; Peakall, Jeffrey; März, Christian

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Authors

Johan C. Faust

Geoffrey D. Abbott

Jochen Knies

Allyson Tessin

Isobel Mannion

Ailbe Ford

Robert Hilton

Jeffrey Peakall

Christian März



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 reactive iron. Consistent with a recent global estimate we find that on average 21.0 ± 8.3 per cent of the total organic carbon is associated to reactive iron (fOC-FeR) in Barents Sea surface sediments. The spatial distribution of fOC-FeR, however, seems to be unrelated to sea ice cover, Atlantic water inflow or proximity to land. Future Arctic warming might, therefore, neither increase nor decrease the burial rates of iron-associated organic carbon. However, our results also imply that ongoing sea ice reduction and the associated alteration of vertical carbon fluxes might cause accompanied shifts in the Barents Sea surface sedimentary organic carbon content, which might result in overall reduced carbon sequestration in the future.

Citation

Faust, J. C., Stevenson, M. A., Abbott, G. D., Knies, J., Tessin, A., Mannion, I., …März, C. (2020). Does Arctic warming reduce preservation of organic matter in Barents Sea sediments?. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 378(2181), Article 20190364. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0364

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 26, 2020
Online Publication Date Aug 31, 2020
Publication Date 2020-10
Deposit Date Sep 10, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.
Print ISSN 1364-503X
Electronic ISSN 1471-2962
Publisher The Royal Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 378
Issue 2181
Article Number 20190364
DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0364

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