Articles | Volume 22, issue 24
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-8065-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-8065-2025
Research article
 | 
19 Dec 2025
Research article |  | 19 Dec 2025

Limited physical protection leads to high organic carbon reactivity in anoxic Baltic Sea sediments

Silvia Placitu, Sebastiaan J. van de Velde, Astrid Hylén, Mats Eriksson, Per O. J. Hall, and Steeve Bonneville

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Cited articles

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Marine sediments store organic carbon and help regulate climate. Oxygen-depleted waters are thought to enhance this, however Western Gotland Basin sediments show low carbon despite such conditions. We studied the role of mineral protection, which can shield carbon from microbes, and found it limited. This suggests that without physical protection, carbon remains accessible and gets degraded, making mineral protection a key factor in carbon preservation.
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