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Efficient preservation of young terrestrial organic carbon in sandy turbidity-current deposits

Hage, S.; Galy, V. V.; Cartigny, M. J.B.; Acikalin, S.; Clare, M. A.; Gröcke, D. R.; Hilton, R. G.; Hunt, J. E.; Lintern, D. G.; McGhee, C. A.; Parsons, D. R.; Stacey, C. D.; Sumner, E. J.; Talling, P. J.

Authors

S. Hage

V. V. Galy

M. J.B. Cartigny

S. Acikalin

M. A. Clare

D. R. Gröcke

R. G. Hilton

J. E. Hunt

D. G. Lintern

C. A. McGhee

D. R. Parsons

C. D. Stacey

E. J. Sumner

P. J. Talling



Abstract

Burial of terrestrial biospheric particulate organic carbon in marine sediments removes CO2 from the atmosphere, regulating climate over geologic time scales. Rivers deliver terrestrial organic carbon to the sea, while turbidity currents transport river sediment further offshore. Previous studies have suggested that most organic carbon resides in muddy marine sediment. However, turbidity currents can carry a significant component of coarser sediment, which is commonly assumed to be organic carbon poor. Here, using data from a Canadian fjord, we show that young woody debris can be rapidly buried in sandy layers of turbidity current deposits (turbidites). These layers have organic carbon contents 10× higher than the overlying mud layer, and overall, woody debris makes up >70% of the organic carbon preserved in the deposits. Burial of woody debris in sands overlain by mud caps reduces their exposure to oxygen, increasing organic carbon burial efficiency. Sandy turbidity current channels are common in fjords and the deep sea; hence we suggest that previous global organic carbon burial budgets may have been underestimated.

Citation

Hage, S., Galy, V. V., Cartigny, M. J., Acikalin, S., Clare, M. A., Gröcke, D. R., …Talling, P. J. (2020). Efficient preservation of young terrestrial organic carbon in sandy turbidity-current deposits. Geology, 48(9), 882-887. https://doi.org/10.1130/G47320.1

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 13, 2020
Online Publication Date May 29, 2020
Publication Date Sep 1, 2020
Deposit Date Sep 16, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Geology
Print ISSN 0091-7613
Electronic ISSN 1943-2682
Publisher Geological Society of America
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 48
Issue 9
Pages 882-887
DOI https://doi.org/10.1130/G47320.1
Keywords Geology
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3606215
Publisher URL https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/48/9/882/586768/Efficient-preservation-of-young-terrestrial

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Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Authors. Gold Open Access: This paper is published under the terms of the CC-BY license.





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