scholarly journals Towards an improved organic carbon budget for the Barents Sea shelf, marginal Arctic Ocean

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 4939-4986 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Pathirana ◽  
J. Knies ◽  
M. Felix ◽  
U. Mann
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Regional Distribution ◽  
Carbon Accumulation ◽  
Carbon Fractions ◽  
Organic Facies ◽  
Organic Carbon Fractions ◽  
Facies Modelling

Abstract. There is generally a lack of knowledge on how marine organic carbon accumulation is linked to vertical export and primary productivity patterns. In this study, a multi-proxy geochemical and organic-sedimentological approach is coupled with organic facies modelling focusing on regional calculations of carbon cycling and carbon burial on the western Barents shelf between northern Scandinavia and Svalbard. OF-Mod 3D, an organic facies modelling software tool, is used to reconstruct the marine and terrestrial organic carbon fractions and to make inferences about marine primary productivity in this region. The model is calibrated with an extensive sample dataset and reproduces the present-day regional distribution of the organic carbon fractions well. Based on this new organic facies model, we present regional carbon mass accumulation rate calculations for the western Barents Sea.

scholarly journals Towards an improved organic carbon budget for the western Barents Sea shelf

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 569-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Pathirana ◽  
J. Knies ◽  
M. Felix ◽  
U. Mann
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Carbon Budget ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Carbon Accumulation ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sediment Surface ◽  
Organic Facies ◽  
Facies Modelling

Abstract. There is generally a lack of knowledge on how marine organic carbon accumulation is linked to vertical export and primary productivity patterns in the Arctic Ocean. Despite the fact that annual primary production in the Arctic has increased as a consequence of shrinking sea ice, its effect on flux, preservation, and accumulation of organic carbon is still not well understood. In this study, a multi-proxy geochemical and organic-sedimentological approach is coupled with organic facies modelling, focusing on regional calculations of carbon cycling and carbon burial on the western Barents Shelf between northern Scandinavia and Svalbard. OF-Mod 3-D, an organic facies modelling software tool, is used to reconstruct and quantify the marine and terrestrial organic carbon fractions and to make inferences about marine primary productivity changes across the marginal ice zone (MIZ). By calibrating the model against an extensive set of sediment surface samples, we improve the Holocene organic carbon budget for ice-free and seasonally ice-covered areas in the western Barents Sea. The results show that higher organic carbon accumulation rates in the MIZ are best explained by enhanced surface water productivity compared to ice-free regions, implying that shrinking sea ice may reveal a significant effect on the overall organic carbon storage capacity of the western Barents Sea shelf.

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