Soil Organic Carbon Development and Turnover in Natural and Disturbed Salt Marsh Environments
Name
Geophysical Research Letters - 2020 - Luk - Soil Organic Carbon Development and Turnover in Natural and Disturbed Salt.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.98 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
bcf240a8e4079aa29fd5a4edd61f2996
Author(s)
Luk, Sheron Y
Todd‐Brown, Katherine
Eagle, Meagan
McNichol, Ann P
Sanderman, Jonathan
Gosselin, Kelsey
Spivak, Amanda C
Date Issued
December 11, 2020
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Citation
Luk, S. Y., Todd-Brown, K., Eagle, M., McNichol, A. P., Sanderman, J., Gosselin, K., & Spivak, A. C. (2021). Soil organic carbon development and turnover in natural and disturbed salt marsh environments. Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2020GL090287.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Salt marsh survival with sea-level rise (SLR) increasingly relies on soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation and preservation. Using a novel combination of geochemical approaches, we characterized fine SOC (≤1 mm) supporting marsh elevation maintenance. Overlaying thermal reactivity, source (δ13C), and age (F14C) information demonstrates several processes contributing to soil development: marsh grass production, redeposition of eroded material, and microbial reworking. Redeposition of old carbon, likely from creekbanks, represented ∼9%–17% of shallow SOC (≤26 cm). Soils stored marsh grass-derived compounds with a range of reactivities that were reworked over centuries-to-millennia. Decomposition decreases SOC thermal reactivity throughout the soil column while the decades-long disturbance of ponding accelerated this shift in surface horizons. Empirically derived estimates of SOC turnover based on geochemical composition spanned a wide range (640–9,951 years) and have the potential to inform predictions of marsh ecosystem evolution.
MIT Department
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020gl090287
