Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Calculations based on recent observations indicate that approximately one third of the organic matter presently being buried in marine sediments may be of terrestrial origin, with the majority of this terrestrial organic matter (TOM) burial occurring in muddy, deltaic sediments. These calculations further suggest that the remineralization of terrestrial organic matter in the oceans is also much less efficient than that of marine organic matter. These two underappreciated observations have important implications in terms of our understanding of the controls on the global carbon cycle. From a paleoceanographic perspective, the results presented here also suggest that changes in TOM burial on glacial‐interglacial timescales have the potential to impact the global carbon cycle (i.e., atmospheric CO 2 levels).
Source: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
DOI: 10.1029/2004gb002368
Author: David J. Burdige
Institution: Old Dominion University
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1937838860