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Titel |
Enhanced ocean carbon storage from anaerobic alkalinity generation in coastal sediments |
VerfasserIn |
H. Thomas, L.-S. Schiettecatte, K. Suykens, Y. J. M. Koné, E. H. Shadwick, A. E. F. Prowe, Y. Bozec, H. J. W. Baar, A. V. Borges |
Medientyp |
Artikel
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Sprache |
Englisch
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ISSN |
1726-4170
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Digitales Dokument |
URL |
Erschienen |
In: Biogeosciences ; 6, no. 2 ; Nr. 6, no. 2 (2009-02-25), S.267-274 |
Datensatznummer |
250003435
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Publikation (Nr.) |
copernicus.org/bg-6-267-2009.pdf |
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Zusammenfassung |
The coastal ocean is a crucial link between land, the open ocean and
the atmosphere. The shallowness of the water column permits close
interactions between the sedimentary, aquatic and atmospheric compartments,
which otherwise are decoupled at long time scales (≅ 1000 yr) in the
open oceans. Despite the prominent role of the coastal oceans in absorbing
atmospheric CO2 and transferring it into the deep oceans via
the continental shelf pump, the underlying mechanisms remain only partly
understood. Evaluating observations from the North Sea, a NW European shelf
sea, we provide evidence that anaerobic degradation of organic matter,
fuelled from land and ocean, generates total alkalinity (AT)
and increases the CO2 buffer capacity of seawater. At both the
basin wide and annual scales anaerobic AT generation in the
North Sea's tidal mud flat area irreversibly facilitates 7–10%, or taking
into consideration benthic denitrification in the North Sea, 20–25% of
the North Sea's overall CO2 uptake. At the global scale,
anaerobic AT generation could be accountable for as much as
60% of the uptake of CO2 in shelf and marginal seas, making
this process, the anaerobic pump, a key player in the biological carbon
pump. Under future high CO2 conditions oceanic
CO2 storage via the anaerobic pump may even gain further
relevance because of stimulated ocean productivity. |
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