Questions remain about the biolability of dissolved black carbon along the combustion continuum

Wagner, Sasha; Coppola, Alysha I.; Stubbins, Aron; Dittmar, Thorsten; Niggemann, Jutta; Drake, Travis W.; Seidel, Michael; Spencer, Robert G. M.; Bao, Hongyan

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-24477-y

Cited by 35 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The chemical structure and biogeochemical reactivity of PyC are highly heterogeneous and depend on the charring temperature 4 , 10 – 13 . A portion of the PyC stored in soils (char, charcoal and ash) is degraded, even though the global flux has not been well constrained 7 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The less reactive, condensed aromatic fractions of PyC are defined as black carbon (BC). BC can be determined via the benzenepolycarboxylic acid (BPCA) method, which measures BPCAs, the oxidation products of condensed aromatic fractions 13 . The particulate and dissolved forms of BC (PBC and DBC, respectively) are transferred from soils to rivers and reach the ocean through the land-to-ocean aquatic continuum 17 , 18 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fate of dissolved black carbon in the deep Pacific Ocean

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Black carbon (BC), a byproduct of biomass and fossil fuel combustion, may impact the climate because it can be stored on Earth’s surface for centuries to millennia. Dissolved BC (DBC) occurs ubiquitously in the ocean. However, the DBC cycle in the ocean has not been well constrained. Here, we show the basin-scale distribution of DBC in the Pacific Ocean and find that the DBC concentrations in the deep Pacific Ocean decrease along with deep-ocean meridional circulation. The DBC concentration is negatively correlated with apparent oxygen utilization, a proxy of the integrated flux of sinking particles, in the deep Pacific Ocean, implying that DBC is removed from the deep ocean to abyssal sediments through sorption onto sinking particles. The burial flux of BC to abyssal sediments is estimated to be 0.040–0.085 PgC yr−1, corresponding to 1.5–3.3% of the anthropogenic CO2 uptake by the ocean.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fate of dissolved black carbon in the deep Pacific Ocean

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The importance of glacial influence may be obscured by differences in residence time between tributaries given that the tributaries carrying relatively aged DOC are smaller than most of the others analyzed. It is currently not possible to exclude contributions of fossil combustion 13 residues to the 14 C-depleted DOC signals given current uncertainties concerning the reactivity of dissolved combustion-derived components (Stubbins et al 2012;Wagner et al 2021), but the lack of coherence in values across tributaries suggests that aged DOC in the Fraser system is driven by processes other than deposition of anthropogenic combustion-derived aerosols on glaciers. Instead, we speculate that 14 C-depleted DOC in the Fraser River and its tributaries is primarily derived from mobilization and dissolution of pyrogenic fossil carbon and pre-aged biogenic OM in soils and glacial debris.…”

Section: Sources Of Docmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic Evidence for Sources of Dissolved Carbon and the Role of Organic Matter Respiration in the Fraser River Basin, Canada

Voß

Eglinton

Peucker‐Ehrenbrink

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sources of dissolved and particulate carbon to the Fraser River system vary significantly in space and time. Tributaries in the northern interior of the basin consistently deliver higher concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to the main stem than other tributaries. Based on samples collected near the Fraser River mouth throughout 2013, the radiocarbon age of DOC exported from the Fraser River does not change significantly across seasons despite a spike in DOC concentration during the freshet, suggesting modulation of heterogeneous upstream signals during transit through the river basin. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentrations are highest in the Rocky Mountain headwater region where carbonate weathering is evident, but also in tributaries with high DOC concentrations, suggesting that DOC respiration may be responsible for a significant portion of DIC in this basin. Using an isotope and major ion mass balance approach to constrain the contributions of carbonate and silicate weathering and DOC respiration, we estimate that up to 29% of DIC is derived from DOC respiration in some parts of the Fraser River basin. Overall, these results indicate close coupling between the cycling of DOC and DIC, and that carbon is actively processed and transformed during transport through the river network.

show abstract

“…Due to the heterogeneous nature of DBC compounds, which exist in an even more complex dissolved organic matter matrix, the direct quantification of these condensed aromatic molecules is analytically challenging. The benzenepolycarboxylic acid (BPCA) method is one of the most widely utilized methods for condensed aromatic DBC quantification in aquatic environments (see Wagner et al [ 3 , 14 ] for further discussion on this) and is the analytical protocol we describe here.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring dissolved black carbon in water via aqueous, inorganic, high-performance liquid chromatography of benzenepolycarboxylic acid (BPCA) molecular markers

Barton

Wagner

2022

PLoS ONE

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dissolved black carbon (DBC) is the condensed aromatic portion of dissolved organic matter produced from the incomplete combustion of biomass and other thermogenic processes. DBC quantification facilitates the examination of the production, accumulation, cycling, transformation, and effects of biologically recalcitrant condensed aromatic carbon in aquatic environments. Due to the heterogeneous nature of DBC molecules, concentrations are difficult to measure directly. Here, the method for DBC quantification consists of oxidizing condensed aromatic carbon to benzenepolycarboxylic acids (BPCAs), which are used as proxies for the assessment of DBC in the original sample. The concentrations of oxidation products (BPCAs) are quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography. DBC concentrations are determined from the concentration of BPCAs using a previously established conversion factor. Details and full descriptions of the preparative and analytical procedures and techniques of the BPCA method are usually omitted for brevity in published method sections and method-specific papers. With this step-by-step protocol, we aim to clarify the steps of DBC analysis, especially for those adopting or conducting the BPCA method for the first time.

show abstract

Questions remain about the biolability of dissolved black carbon along the combustion continuum

Cited by 35 publications

References 21 publications

Fate of dissolved black carbon in the deep Pacific Ocean

Fate of dissolved black carbon in the deep Pacific Ocean

Isotopic Evidence for Sources of Dissolved Carbon and the Role of Organic Matter Respiration in the Fraser River Basin, Canada

Measuring dissolved black carbon in water via aqueous, inorganic, high-performance liquid chromatography of benzenepolycarboxylic acid (BPCA) molecular markers

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About