Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Efficient burial of carbon in a submarine canyon

2010; Geological Society of America; Volume: 38; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1130/g30895.1

1943-2682

Douglas G. Masson, Veerle A.I. Huvenne, Henko de Stigter, George A. Wolff, Kostas Kiriakoulakis, R.G. Arzola, Sabena Blackbird,

Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes

Research Article| September 01, 2010 Efficient burial of carbon in a submarine canyon D.G. Masson; D.G. Masson 1National Oceanography Centre, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar V.A.I. Huvenne; V.A.I. Huvenne 1National Oceanography Centre, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar H.C. de Stigter; H.C. de Stigter 2Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Texel, The Netherlands Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar G.A. Wolff; G.A. Wolff 3Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar K. Kiriakoulakis; K. Kiriakoulakis 3Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar R.G. Arzola; R.G. Arzola 1National Oceanography Centre, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar S. Blackbird S. Blackbird 3Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information D.G. Masson 1National Oceanography Centre, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK V.A.I. Huvenne 1National Oceanography Centre, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK H.C. de Stigter 2Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Texel, The Netherlands G.A. Wolff 3Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK K. Kiriakoulakis 3Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK R.G. Arzola 1National Oceanography Centre, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK S. Blackbird 3Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GP, UK Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 25 Nov 2009 Revision Received: 28 Apr 2010 Accepted: 29 Apr 2010 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 © 2010 Geological Society of America Geology (2010) 38 (9): 831–834. https://doi.org/10.1130/G30895.1 Article history Received: 25 Nov 2009 Revision Received: 28 Apr 2010 Accepted: 29 Apr 2010 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation D.G. Masson, V.A.I. Huvenne, H.C. de Stigter, G.A. Wolff, K. Kiriakoulakis, R.G. Arzola, S. Blackbird; Efficient burial of carbon in a submarine canyon. Geology 2010;; 38 (9): 831–834. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G30895.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Burial of organic carbon (OC) in marine sediments moderates atmospheric CO2 levels on geological time scales, but uncertainties remain about how much OC is buried and about the efficiency of OC burial, particularly in heterogeneous seafloor environments such as ocean margins. Here we describe OC burial in Nazaré submarine canyon and the adjacent continental slope off Portugal, an area within which sedimentation rates vary by three orders of magnitude. Using a nested series of observations at different scales, ranging from regional bathymetry to sediment cores, we estimate the annual sediment and OC deposited in the canyon at 620,000 t and 12,500 t, respectively. Nazaré Canyon is thus a significant sink of both sediment and OC. Canyon sediments typically contain ∼2% OC, both in surface sediments and at depth, and there is a limited correlation between sedimentation rate and OC content. The likely explanation is that the OC has already survived a lengthy period of degradation prior to deposition in the canyon, such that additional exposure to oxygenated water has minimal effect. Burial efficiency is difficult to calculate because of extensive resuspension and reworking of OC in the upper canyon, but probably exceeds 30% in areas of high sedimentation. These areas are shown to be 30 times more effective in burying OC than adjacent areas of the continental slope, indicating that Nazaré Canyon is a hitherto overlooked sink of OC on a continental margin where OC burial is otherwise low. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.