Biomass sequestration potential of anoxic basins for marine CO2 removal (mCDR)
In addition to rapid and dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, humanity will need to find a way to remove tens of gigatonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere to avert the most extreme consequences of climate change and keep global average temperatures at or below Paris Agreement goals. Inspired by natural feedbacks in Earth's carbon cycle, we investigate the mechanisms of organic matter breakdown and preservation in isolated, anoxic, and often hypersaline basins through a combination of laboratory experiments, environmental sampling, and in-situ field deployments (right). We aim to understand the potential durability and environmental impacts of biomass-based marine CDR to guide decision-making across the field.
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Benthic lander loaded with experiments for deployment in Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico (November 2023).
Sulfur cycling and carbon preservation in sinking marine particles
Sinking marine particles are complex biochemical reactors, where microorganisms respire most of the organic matter that was fixed by photosynthesis in the surface ocean. Understanding the controls on organic matter lability, or accessibility to microorganisms, in these particles is a central problem for modeling carbon fluxes and nutrient cycling in the ocean. A hot topic of current debate concerns the role of sulfur cycling in modern O2-deficient zones, where free dissolved sulfide is rarely detected, but the enzymes for microbial sulfate reduction are present. We have been collecting sinking particles using incubators designed at the University of Washington, and then using a combination of radioactive and stable isotope labels to measure reaction rates and characterize solid-phase products. ​
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Project Data @ BCO-DMO: methods, results, and meta-data
Particle traps seen from the R/V Rachel Carson in Tofino Inlet, Vancouver Island, Canada (October 2023).
Sulfur cycling in mangrove and wetland ecosystems
Despite their relatively small areal extent, coastal ecosystems have an outsized impact on global carbon burial. They are frequently 'hotspots' for carbon burial, but they can also release CO2 rapidly if disturbed. In the tidally exposed environment at left (Turks and Caicos Islands), thick microbial mats fix and respire carbon via tightly interwoven metabolic strategies, but net carbon preservation is low. By comparing the rates and mechanisms of reactions in this system with those at sites with much higher carbon preservation (e.g., Florida), we can track how different environmental conditions translate into different amounts of local organic carbon burial in these critical environments.
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Project Data @ BCO-DMO: methods, results, and meta-data
Mangroves growing in thick, sulfur-cycling mats on Little Ambergris Caye, Turks and Caicos Islands (June 2022)
Rates and mechanisms of organic matter transformations
Laboratory experiments allow us to test the hypotheses we develop in the environment and measure important parameters that can be hard to constrain in complex natural systems. For example, under what conditions can organic moieties out-compete iron for available sulfide? How accessible is organic matter to microorganisms after polysulfide exposure? And, does sedimentary sulfur cycling impact the preservation of terrestrial and marine organic matter differently?
Sulfur isotope records of the global
and local environment
The S isotope compositions of pyrites (FeS2) have been invaluable records of biogeochemistry in the geologic record, but the kinetics of pyritization are complex and depend strongly on the availability and mineralogy of iron as well as sulfide. As a second major sink for sulfide in anoxic sediments, organic matter (OM) provides essential context for reconstructing the distribution and isotopic composition of environmental sulfide. To first order, roughly parallel d34S profiles reflect changes in sulfide, while independent patterns require alternative explanations. We have been applying this framework to a variety of recent and ancient environments, using OM S:C ratios and paired S-isotope records for pyrite and OM to reconstruct both local redox structure and global mechanisms impacting the sulfur and carbon cycles.
