Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T12:20:41.321Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Aerobic degradation of organic carbon inferred from dinoflagellate cyst decomposition in Southern Ocean sediments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 May 2012

Monika Kupinska ,
Oliver Sachs ,
Eberhard J. Sauter  and
Karin A.F. Zonneveld
Monika Kupinska*
Affiliation:
Fachbereich 5-Geowissenschaften, Postfach 330440, 28334 Bremen, Germany
Oliver Sachs
Affiliation:
Eberhard & Partner AG, General Guisan-Strasse 2, 5000 Aarau, Switzerland
Eberhard J. Sauter
Affiliation:
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
Karin A.F. Zonneveld
Affiliation:
Fachbereich 5-Geowissenschaften, Postfach 330440, 28334 Bremen, Germany
*
⁎Corresponding author at: Geosciences Faculty, University of Szczecin, Mickiewicza 18, 70‐383 Szczecin, Poland. Email Address:[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Organic carbon (OC) burial is an important process influencing atmospheric CO2 concentration and global climate change; therefore it is essential to obtain information on the factors determining its preservation. The Southern Ocean (SO) is believed to play an important role in sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere via burial of OC. Here we investigate the degradation of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) in two short cores from the SO to obtain information on the factors influencing OC preservation. On the basis of the calculated degradation index kt, we conclude that both cores are affected by species-selective aerobic degradation of dinocysts. Further, we calculate a degradation constant k using oxygen exposure time derived from the ages of our cores. The constant k displays a strong relationship with pore-water O2, suggesting that decomposition of OC is dependent on both the bottom- and pore-water O2 concentrations.

Keywords

Organic-walled dinoflagellate cystsOxygenOrganic carbonDegradation
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 78 , Issue 1 , July 2012 , pp. 130 - 138
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aller, R.C. Transport and reactions in the bioirrigated zone. Boudreau, B.P., and Jørgensen, B.B. The Benthic Boundary Layer. (2001). Oxford University Press, Oxford. 269–301.Google Scholar
Aller, R.C., and Blair, N.E. Carbon remineralization in the Amazon-Guianas tropical moile mudbelt: a sedimentary incinerator. Continental Shelf Research 26, 17–18 (2006). 2241–2259.Google Scholar
Arthur, M.A., Dean, W.E., and Laarkamp, K. Organic carbon accumulation and preservation in surface sediments on the Peru margin. Chemical Geology 152, (1998). 273–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnett, P.R.O., Watson, J., and Conelly, D. A multiple corer for taking virtually undisturbed samples from shelf, bathyal, and abyssal sediments. Oceanologica Acta 7, (1984). 399–408.Google Scholar
Berner, R.A. Early Diagenesis: A theoretical Approach. (1980). Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Betts, J.N., Holland, The oxygen content of ocean bottom waters, the burial efficiency of organic carbon and the regulation of atmospheric oxygen. Global and Planetary Change 97, (1991). 5–18.Google Scholar
Bockelmann, F.-D., (2007). Selective preservation of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in Quaternary marine sediments: An oxygen effect and its application to paleoceanography. PhD Thesis, University of Bremen, 130 pp.Google Scholar
Cai, W.-J., and Sayles, F.L. Oxygen penetration depths and fluxes in marine sediments. Marine Chemistry 52, (1996). 123–131.Google Scholar
Canfield, D.E. Factors influencing organic carbon preservation in marine sediments. Chemical Geology 114, (1994). 315–329.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emerson, S.E. Organic carbon preservation in marine sediments. Sundquist, E.T., and Broecker, W.S. The Carbon Cycle and Atmospheric CO2: Natural Variations Archean to Present. Geophysical Monographs 32, (1985). American Geophysical Union, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Esper, O., and Zonneveld, K.A.F. Distribution of organic-walled dinofalgellate cysts in surface sediments of the Southern Ocean (eastern Atlantic sector) between the Suptropical Front and the Weddell Gyre. Marine Micropaleontology 46, (2002). 177–208.Google Scholar
Esper, O., and Zonneveld, K.A.F. The potential of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts to reconstruct past sea-surface conditions in the Southern Ocean. Marine Micropaleontology 65, 3/4 (2007). 185–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fagel, N. Export Production Estimates for the Surface Sediments in the Atlantic and Indian Sectors of the Southern Ocean (Table 3,4). (2006). http://dx.doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.464582Google Scholar
Ferdelman, T.G., Thamdrup, B., Canfield, D.E., Nøhr Glud, R., Kuever, J., Lillebæk, R., Birger Ramsing, N., and Wawer, C. Biogeochemical controls on the oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur distributions in the water column of Golfo Dulce: an anoxic basin on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica revisited. Revista de Biología Tropical 54, (2006). 171–191.Google Scholar
François, R., Altabet, M.A., Yu, E.-F., Sigman, D.M., Bacon, M.P., Frank, M., Bohrmann, G., Bareille, G., and Labeyrie, L.D. Contribution of Southern Ocean surface-water stratification to low atmospheric CO2 concentrations during last glacial period. Nature 389, (1997). 929–935.Google Scholar
Frank, M., Mangini, A., Gersonde, R., Rutgers vander Loeff, M., and Kuhn, G. Late Quaternary sediment dating and quantification of lateral sediment redistribution applying 230Thex: a study from the eastern Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Geologische Rundschau 85, 3 (1996). 554–566.Google Scholar
Froelich, P.N., Klinkhammer, G.P., Bender, M.L., Luedtke, N.A., Heath, G.R., Cullen, D., Dauphin, P., Hammond, D., Hartman, B., and Maynard, V. Early oxidation of organic matter in pelagic sediments of the eastern equatorial Atlantic: suhoxic diagenesis. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 43, (1979). 1075–1090.Google Scholar
Harland, R., and Pudsey, C.J. Dinoflagellate cysts from sediment traps deployed in the Bellingshausen, Weddell and Scotia seas, Antarctica. Marine Micropaleontology 37, (1999). 77–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harland, R., Pudsey, C.J., Howe, J.A., and Fitzpatrick, M.E. Recent dinoflagellate cysts in a transect from the Falkland Trough to the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Palaeontology 41, 6 (1998). 1093–1131.Google Scholar
Harland, R., Fitzpatrick, M.E.J., and Pudsey, C.J. Latest Quaternary dinoflagellate cyst climatostratigraphy for three cores from the Falkland Trough, Scotia and Weddell seas, Southern Ocean. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 107, (1999). 265–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartnett, H.E., Keil, R.G., Hedges, J.I., and Devol, A.H. Influence of oxygen exposure time on organic carbon preservation in continental margin sediments. Nature 391, (1998). 572–574.Google Scholar
Hedges, J.I., and Prahl, F.G. Early diagenesis: consequences for applications of molecular biomarkers. Engel, M.H., and Macko, S.A. Organic Geochemistry. (1993). Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Hedges, J.I., Keil, R.G., and Benner, R. What happens to terrestrial organic matter in the ocean?. Organic Geochemistry 27, 5–6 (1997). 195–212.Google Scholar
Henrichs, S.M., and Reeburgh, W.S. Anaerobic mineralization of marine sediment organic matter: rates and the role of anaerobic processes in the oceanic carbon economy. Geomicrobiology Journal 5, (1987). 191–237.Google Scholar
Hopkins, J.A., and McCarthy, F.M.G. Post-depositional palynomorph degradation in Quaternary shelf sediments: a laboratory experiment studying the effects of progressive oxidation. Palynology 26, (2002). 167–184.Google Scholar
Howarth, R.J. Improved estimators of uncertainty in proportions, point-counting, and pass-fail test results. American Journal of Science 298, (1998). 594–607.Google Scholar
Howe, J.A., Harland, R., and Pudsey, C.J. Dinoflagellate cysts evidence for Quaternary palaeoceanographic change in the northern Scotia Sea, South Atlantic Ocean. Marine Geology 191, (2002). 55–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hulthe, G., Hulth, S., and Hall, P.O.J. Effect of oxygen on degradation rate of refractory and labile organic matter in continental margin sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 62, 8 (1998). 1319–1328.Google Scholar
Jacobson, D.M., and Anderson, D.M. Thecate heterotrophic dinoflagellates: feeding behavior and mechanisms. Journal of Phycology 22, (1986). 249–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keil, R.G., Dickens, A.F., Arnarson, T., Nunn, B.L., and Devol, A.H. What is the oxygen exposure time of laterally transported organic matter along the Washington margin?. Marine Chemistry 92, (2004). 157–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kodrans-Nsiah, M., de Lange, G.J., and Zonneveld, K.A.F. A natural exposure experiment on short-term species-selective aerobic degradation of dinoflagellate cysts. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 152, (2008). 32–39.Google Scholar
Levitan, M.A., and Stein, R. History of sedimentation rates in the sea-ice sedimentation zone during the last 130 ka. Lithology and Mineral Resources 43, 1 (2008). 65–75.Google Scholar
Marret, F., and de Vernal, A. Dinoflagellate cysts distribution in surface sediments of the southern Indian Ocean. Marine Micropaleontology 29, (1997). 367–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, J.H., Fitzwater, S.E., and Gordon, R.M. Iron deficiency limits phyto-plankton growth in the Antarctic waters. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 4, (1990). 5–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McMinn, A., Howard, W.R., and Roberts, D. Late Pliocene dinoflagellate cysts and diatom analysis from a high resolution sequence in DSDP Site 594, Chatham Rise, south west Pacific. Marine Micropaleontology 43, (2001). 207–221.Google Scholar
Middelburg, J.J. A simple rate model for organic matter decomposition in marine sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 53, (1989). 1577–1581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, J.K., Abbott, M.R., Richman, J.G., and Nelson, D.M. The Southern Ocean at the last glacial maximum: a strong sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 14, (2000). 455–475.Google Scholar
Pudsey, C.J., and Howe, J.A. Quaternary history of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current: evidence from the Scotia Sea. Marine Geology 148, (1998). 83–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabouille, C., and Gaillard, J.-F. A coupled model representing the deep-sea organic carbon mineralization and oxygen consumption in surficial sediments. Journal of Geophysical Research 96, C2 (1991). 2761–2776.Google Scholar
Reichart, G.-J., and Brinkhuis, H. Late Quaternary Protoperidinium cysts as indicators of paleoproductivity in the northern Arabian Sea. Marine Micropaleontology 49, (2003). 303–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richerol, T., Rochon, A., Blasco, S., Scott, D.B., Schell, T.M., and Bennett, R.J. Distribution of dinoflagellate cysts in surface sediments of the Mackenzie Shelf and Amundsen Gulf, Beaufort Sea (Canada). Journal of Marine Systems (2008). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2007.11.003Google Scholar
Robbins, J.A. Geochemical and geophysical applications of radioactive lead. Nriagu, J.O. The Biogeochemistry of Lead in the Environment. Part A. Ecological Cycles. (1978). Elsevier, 285–393.Google Scholar
Sachs, O. Benthic organic carbon fluxes in the Southern Ocean: regional differences and links to surface primary production and carbon export. Reports on Polar and Marine Research 578, (2008). 158 pp.Google Scholar
Sauter, E.J., Schlüter, M., and Suess, M. Organic carbon flux and remineralization in surface sediments from the northern North Atlantic derived from pore-water oxygen microprofiles. Deep-Sea Research I 48, (2001). 529–553.Google Scholar
Schlüter, M., Rutgers van der Loeff, M.M., Holby, O., and Kuhn, G. Silica cycle in surface sediments of the South Atlantic. Deep Sea Research 45, (1998). 1085–1109.Google Scholar
Schlüter, M., Sauter, E.J., Schulz-Bull, D., Balzer, W., and Suess, E. Fluxes of organic carbon and biogenic silica reaching the seafloor: a comparison of high northern and southern latitudes of the Atlantic Ocean. Schäfer, P., Ritzrau, W., Schlüter, M., and Thiede, J. The Northern North Atlantic: A Changing Environment. (2000). Springer, Berlin. 225–240.Google Scholar
Schulz, H.D. Quantification of early diagenesis: dissolved constituents in pore water and signals in the solid phase. Schulz, H.D., and Zabel, M. Marine Geochemistry. 2nd Edition (2005). Springer, Verlag Brelin Heidelberg. 73–124.Google Scholar
Siegenthaler, U., and Wenk, T. Rapid atmospheric CO2 changes and ocean circulation. Nature 308, (1984). 624–626.Google Scholar
Sigman, D.M., and Boyle, E.A. Glacial/interglacial variations in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Nature 407, (2000). 859–869.Google Scholar
Sun, M.-Y., Cai, W.-J., Joye, S.B., Ding, H., Dai, J., and Hollibaugh, J.T. Degradation of algal lipids in microcosm sediments with different mixing regimes. Organic Geochemistry 33, (2002). 445–459.Google Scholar
Tromp, T.K., van Cappellen, P., and Key, R.M. A global model for the early diagenesis of organic carbon and organic phosphorus in marine sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 59, 7 (1995). 1259–1284.Google Scholar
Van der Plas, L., and Tobi, A.C. A chart for judging the reliability of point counting results. American Journal of Science 263, (1965). 87–90.Google Scholar
Versteegh, G.J.M., and Zonneveld, K.A.F. Use of selective degradation to separate preservation from productivity. Geology 30, 7 (2002). 615–618.Google Scholar
Zielinski, U., and Gersonde, R. Diatom distribution in Southern Ocean surface sediments (Atlantic sector): implications for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 129, (1997). 213–250.Google Scholar
Zonneveld, K.A.F., Versteegh, G.J.M., and de Lange, G.J. Preservation of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in different oxygen regimes: a 10,000 year natural experiment. Marine Micropaleontology 29, (1997). 393–405.Google Scholar
Zonneveld, K.A.F., Versteegh, G.J.M., and de Lange, G.J. Palaeoproductivity and post-depositional aerobic organic matter decay reflected by dinoflagellate cyst assemblages of the Eastern Mediterranean S1 sapropel. Marine Geology 172, (2001). 181–195.Google Scholar
Zonneveld, K.A.F., Bockelmann, F., and Holzwarth, U. Selective preservation of organic walled dinoflagellate cysts as a tool to quantify past net primary production and bottom water oxygen concentrations. Marine Geology 237, (2007). 109–126.Google Scholar
Zonneveld, K.A.F., Versteegh, G., and Kodrans-Nsiah, M. Preservation and organic chemistry of late Cenozoic organic-walled dinofalgellate cysts; a review. Marine Micropaleontology 68, 1/2 (2008). 179–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar