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Bounding cross-shelf transport time and degradation in Siberian-Arctic land-ocean carbon transfer

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa Bröder

    (Stockholm University
    Stockholm University
    Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Tommaso Tesi

    (Stockholm University
    Stockholm University
    Institute of Marine Sciences—National Research Council)

  • August Andersson

    (Stockholm University
    Stockholm University)

  • Igor Semiletov

    (University Alaska Fairbanks
    Russian Academy of Sciences
    National Research Tomsk Polytechnical University)

  • Örjan Gustafsson

    (Stockholm University
    Stockholm University)

Abstract

The burial of terrestrial organic carbon (terrOC) in marine sediments contributes to the regulation of atmospheric CO2 on geological timescales and may mitigate positive feedback to present-day climate warming. However, the fate of terrOC in marine settings is debated, with uncertainties regarding its degradation during transport. Here, we employ compound-specific radiocarbon analyses of terrestrial biomarkers to determine cross-shelf transport times. For the World’s largest marginal sea, the East Siberian Arctic shelf, transport requires 3600 ± 300 years for the 600 km from the Lena River to the Laptev Sea shelf edge. TerrOC was reduced by ~85% during transit resulting in a degradation rate constant of 2.4 ± 0.6 kyr−1. Hence, terrOC degradation during cross-shelf transport constitutes a carbon source to the atmosphere over millennial time. For the contemporary carbon cycle on the other hand, slow terrOC degradation brings considerable attenuation of the decadal-centennial permafrost carbon-climate feedback caused by global warming.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa Bröder & Tommaso Tesi & August Andersson & Igor Semiletov & Örjan Gustafsson, 2018. "Bounding cross-shelf transport time and degradation in Siberian-Arctic land-ocean carbon transfer," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-03192-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03192-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Jiang Dong & Xuefa Shi & Xun Gong & Anatolii S. Astakhov & Limin Hu & Xiting Liu & Gang Yang & Yixuan Wang & Yuri Vasilenko & Shuqing Qiao & Alexander Bosin & Gerrit Lohmann, 2022. "Enhanced Arctic sea ice melting controlled by larger heat discharge of mid-Holocene rivers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.

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