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More Than Half of Emitted Black Carbon Is Missing in Marine Sediments

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  • Bing Chen

    (Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
    Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, China
    Collaborative Innovation Center of Climate Change, Nanjing 210023, China)

  • Shani Tiwari

    (Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
    CSIR—National Institute of Oceanography, Panaji 403004, India)

  • Kun Liu

    (Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
    Yantai Environmental Monitoring Center, Yantai 264003, China)

  • Jianjun Zou

    (Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, China
    Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Metallogeny, First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao 266061, China)

Abstract

Marine sediments are the ultimate reservoir for black carbon (BC) preservation, and BC burial in sediment/soils is an efficient method for carbon sequestration to mitigate CO 2 emissions. A portion of soil charcoal and atmospheric BC is dissolved in inland and oceanic water, but the amount of BC in the ocean remains unclear. We analyzed multi-sediment cores from the northwestern Pacific Ocean and lakes in China and reconstructed the timeline of BC deposition from 1860 to ~2012. The lacustrine sediment cores showed an increase in BC deposition by a factor of 4–7 during the industrialization period in China compared to the years 1860–1950 (reference level). Such increasing trends in BC have also been reproduced by ten global climate model simulations. However, the marine sediment cores did not retain these significant increases in BC deposition. Meanwhile, the model simulations predicted increased trends compared to the observed flat trends of BC deposition in marine sediments. The discrepancy suggests a large amount of BC, i.e., 65 (±11)%, is missing in marine sediment sinks. Thus, since more than half of emitted BC has dissolved into oceanic water, the dissolved BC and carbon cycle should be reconsidered in the global carbon budget.

Suggested Citation

  • Bing Chen & Shani Tiwari & Kun Liu & Jianjun Zou, 2023. "More Than Half of Emitted Black Carbon Is Missing in Marine Sediments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-14, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:12:p:9739-:d:1173957
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kunshan Bao & Ji Shen & Guoping Wang & Chuanyu Gao, 2015. "Anthropogenic Black Carbon Emission Increase during the Last 150 Years at Coastal Jiangsu, China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.
    2. Youhei Yamashita & Motohiro Nakane & Yutaro Mori & Jun Nishioka & Hiroshi Ogawa, 2022. "Fate of dissolved black carbon in the deep Pacific Ocean," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-7, December.
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