Articles | Volume 14, issue 24
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5663-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5663-2017
Research article
 | 
15 Dec 2017
Research article |  | 15 Dec 2017

Scotland's forgotten carbon: a national assessment of mid-latitude fjord sedimentary carbon stocks

Craig Smeaton, William E. N. Austin, Althea L. Davies, Agnes Baltzer, John A. Howe, and John M. Baxter

Related authors

UAV approaches for improved mapping of vegetation cover and estimation of carbon storage of small saltmarshes: examples from Loch Fleet, northeast Scotland
William Hiles, Lucy C. Miller, Craig Smeaton, and William E. N. Austin
Biogeosciences, 21, 929–948, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-929-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-929-2024, 2024
Short summary
Organic-carbon-rich sediments: benthic foraminifera as bio-indicators of depositional environments
Elena Lo Giudice Cappelli, Jessica Louise Clarke, Craig Smeaton, Keith Davidson, and William Edward Newns Austin
Biogeosciences, 16, 4183–4199, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4183-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4183-2019, 2019
Short summary
The Holocene Evolution of a Sedimentary Carbon Store in a Mid Latitude Fjord
Craig Smeaton, Xingqian Cui, Thomas S. Bianchi, Alix G. Cage, John A. Howe, and William E. N. Austin
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2019-163,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2019-163, 2019
Publication in BG not foreseen
Short summary
Substantial stores of sedimentary carbon held in mid-latitude fjords
Craig Smeaton, William E. N. Austin, Althea L. Davies, Agnès Baltzer, Richard E. Abell, and John A. Howe
Biogeosciences, 13, 5771–5787, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5771-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5771-2016, 2016
Short summary

Related subject area

Biogeochemistry: Sediment
Influence of minor hydrocarbon seepage on sulfur cycling in marine subsurface sediments
Ellen Schnabel, Aurèle Vuillemin, Cédric C. Laczny, Benoit J. Kunath, André R. Soares, Alexander J. Probst, Rolando Di Primio, Jens Kallmeyer, and the PROSPECTOMICS Consortium
Biogeosciences, 22, 767–784, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-767-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-767-2025, 2025
Short summary
Dissolved Mn(III) is a key redox intermediate in sediments of a seasonally euxinic coastal basin
Robin Klomp, Olga M. Żygadłowska, Mike S. M. Jetten, Véronique E. Oldham, Niels A. G. M. van Helmond, Caroline P. Slomp, and Wytze K. Lenstra
Biogeosciences, 22, 751–765, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-751-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-751-2025, 2025
Short summary
Unexpected scarcity of ANME archaea in hydrocarbon seeps within Monterey Bay
Amanda C. Semler and Anne E. Dekas
Biogeosciences, 22, 385–403, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-385-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-385-2025, 2025
Short summary
Reviews and syntheses: Tufa microbialites on rocky coasts – towards an integrated terminology
Thomas W. Garner, J. Andrew G. Cooper, Alan M. Smith, Gavin M. Rishworth, and Matt Forbes
Biogeosciences, 21, 4785–4807, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4785-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4785-2024, 2024
Short summary
Seafloor sediment characterization improves estimates of organic carbon standing stocks: an example from the Eastern Shore Islands, Nova Scotia, Canada
Catherine Brenan, Markus Kienast, Vittorio Maselli, Christopher K. Algar, Benjamin Misiuk, and Craig J. Brown
Biogeosciences, 21, 4569–4586, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4569-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4569-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Aitkenhead, M. J. and Coull, M. C.: Mapping soil carbon stocks across Scotland using a neural network model, Geoderma, 262, 187–198, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.08.034, 2016.
Atamanchuk, D., Kononets, M., Thomas, P. J., Hovdenes, J., Tengberg, A., and Hall, P. O. J.: Continuous long-term observations of the carbonate system dynamics in the water column of a temperate fjord, J. Mar. Syst., 148, 272–284, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2015.03.002, 2015.
Baltzer, A., Bates, R., Mokeddem, Z., Clet-Pellerin, M., Walter-Simonnet, A.-V., Bonnot-Courtois, C., and Austin, W. E. N.: Using seismic facies and pollen analyses to evaluate climatically driven change in a Scottish sea loch (fjord) over the last 20 ka, Geol. Soc. London, Spec. Publ., 344, 355–369, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP344.24, 2010.
Bauer, J. E. and Bianchi, T. S.: Dissolved Organic Carbon Cycling and Transformation, Elsevier Inc., Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science, 5, 7-762012, 2011.
Bauer, J. E., Cai, W.-J., Raymond, P. A, Bianchi, T. S., Hopkinson, C. S., and Regnier, P. A. G.: The changing carbon cycle of the coastal ocean., Nature, 504, 61–70, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12857, 2013.
Download
Short summary
Fjord sediments are recognised as hotspots for the burial and long-term storage of carbon. In this study, we use the Scottish fjords as a natural laboratory. Using geophysical and geochemical analysis in combination with upscaling techniques, we have generated the first full national sedimentary C inventory for a fjordic system. The results indicate that the Scottish fjords on a like-for-like basis are more effective as C stores than their terrestrial counterparts, including Scottish peatlands.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint