In situ measured benthic fluxes of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), a proxy for organic carbon (OC) oxidation or recycling rates, are used together with burial rates based on measured sediment ...accumulation rates (SAR) and vertical distribution of OC in the sediment solid phase to construct a benthic OC budget for the Baltic Sea system. The large variability in recycling rates (4.3 ± 0.87–33 ± 17 mmol C m−2 d−1) and burial rates (1.2 ± 0.8–5.9 ± 1.8 mmol C m−2 d−1) between different sub-basins and between different depositional areas within the basins is accounted for in the budget. Our results indicate that sediments in the Baltic Sea have much higher recycling rates and lower burial rates of OC than previously found. The sediment budget calculations show that 22 ± 7.8 Tg C yr−1 of OC is recycled to the water column due to organic matter oxidation, while long term burial amounts to 1.0 ± 0.3 Tg C yr−1. For the Baltic Sea as a whole, 96% of the particulate OC (POC) deposited on the sea floor (23 ± 7.8 Tg C yr−1; the sum of recycling and burial) is recycled back to the water column. However, the burial efficiency (i.e. the fraction buried of the total deposition) shows large variability between the different basins (2.5–16%). The total benthic POC deposition is approximately 20% higher than the estimated POC source originating from primary production in the water column and riverine input. This difference is likely within the uncertainty range of our budget calculations, however it indicates that the POC sources might be underestimated. The results from this study enhance the understanding of OC delivery, deposition and cycling in the Baltic Sea, and help improving existing Baltic OC budgets.
•The largest Baltic dataset of in situ measured benthic DIC fluxes is presented.•96% of the POC delivered to Baltic sediments is recycled back to the water column.•OC recycling rates are much higher and burial rates lower than previously reported.•C budgets for the Baltic Sea should be revised taking into account these new rates.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Micropipes and dislocations in silicon carbide single crystals are revealed by chemical etching. Micropipes are shown to be interconnected with other structural defects and the reason for this is ...discussed. The Si and C faces are attacked by molten KOH preferentially and isotropically, respectively. The mechanism is discussed in relation to the different surface free energies on the Si and C faces. The revealing of micropipes is more pronounced on the Si face. The hexagonal pattern of micropipes are revealed by rapid etching provided by a large undersaturation at the surface. It is shown that etching from a melt gives a disintegration of the SiC crystal at the micropipe via spiral dissolution which is due to etching near equilibrium conditions. The temperature dependence of the etch rate follows an Arrhenius dependence with an apparent activation energy of about 12-15 kcal mol(-1) derived from measuring etch rate and weight loss.
The validity and reliability of the Barthel index were studied in 60 geriatric patients, 87 stroke patients, and 102 patients with hip fracture, using a factor analysis methodology which explicitly ...accounts for the ordinal nature of the scoring on each item. The findings substantiate that the Barthel index is unidimensional among stroke patients, but not among geriatric patients or patients with hip fracture. In the latter two groups, one factor related to mobility, the other to bodily functions. A sum-score to characterize geriatric and hip fracture patients does not take into account the complex structure of the Barthel index.
Phosphorus fertilisation (eutrophication) is expanding oxygen depletion in coastal systems worldwide. Under low-oxygen bottom water conditions, phosphorus release from the sediment is elevated, which ...further stimulates primary production. It is commonly assumed that re-oxygenation could break this “vicious cycle” by increasing the sedimentary phosphorus retention. Recently, a deep-water inflow into the Baltic Sea created a natural in situ experiment that allowed us to investigate if temporary re-oxygenation stimulates sedimentary retention of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP). Surprisingly, during this 3-year study, we observed a transient but considerable increase, rather than a decrease, in the sediment efflux of DIP and other dissolved biogenic compounds. This suggested that the oxygenated inflow elevated the organic matter degradation in the sediment, likely due to an increase in organic matter supply to the deeper basins, potentially combined with a transient stimulation of the mineralisation efficiency. As a result, the net sedimentary DIP release per m2 was 56 %–112 % higher over the years following the re-oxygenation than before. In contrast to previous assumptions, our results show that inflows of oxygenated water to anoxic bottom waters can increase the sedimentary phosphorus release.
Over the last decades, the impact of human activities on the global nitrogen (N) cycle has drastically increased. Consequently, benthic N cycling has mainly been studied in anthropogenically impacted ...estuaries and coasts, while in oligotrophic systems its understanding is still scarce. Here we report on benthic solute fluxes and on rates of denitrification, anammox, and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) studied by in situ incubations with benthic chamber landers during two cruises to the Gulf of Bothnia (GOB), a cold, oligotrophic basin located in the northern part of the Baltic Sea. Rates of N burial were also inferred to investigate the fate of fixed N in these sediments. Most of the total dissolved fixed nitrogen (TDN) diffusing to the water column was composed of organic N. Average rates of dinitrogen (N2) production by denitrification and anammox (range: 53–360 µmol N m−2 day−1) were comparable to those from Arctic and subarctic sediments worldwide (range: 34–344 µmol N m−2 day−1). Anammox accounted for 18–26 % of the total N2 production. Absence of free hydrogen sulfide and low concentrations of dissolved iron in sediment pore water suggested that denitrification and DNRA were driven by organic matter oxidation rather than chemolithotrophy. DNRA was as important as denitrification at a shallow, coastal station situated in the northern Bothnian Bay. At this pristine and fully oxygenated site, ammonium regeneration through DNRA contributed more than one-third to the TDN efflux and accounted, on average, for 45 % of total nitrate reduction. At the offshore stations, the proportion of DNRA in relation to denitrification was lower (0–16 % of total nitrate reduction). Median value and range of benthic DNRA rates from the GOB were comparable to those from the southern and central eutrophic Baltic Sea and other temperate estuaries and coasts in Europe. Therefore, our results contrast with the view that DNRA is negligible in cold and well-oxygenated sediments with low organic carbon loading. However, the mechanisms behind the variability in DNRA rates between our sites were not resolved. The GOB sediments were a major source (237 kt yr−1, which corresponds to 184 % of the external N load) of fixed N to the water column through recycling mechanisms. To our knowledge, our study is the first to document the simultaneous contribution of denitrification, DNRA, anammox, and TDN recycling combined with in situ measurements.
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