Dissolved Organic Carbon in Coastal Waters: Global Patterns, Stocks and Environmental Physical Controls

Date

2025-05-01

Author

Lønborg, Christian
Fuentes-Santos, Isabel
Carreira, Cátia
Amaral, Valentina
Arístegui, Javier
Bhadury, Punyasloke
Bif, Mariana Bernardi
Calleja, Maria Ll.
Chen, Qi
Cotovicz, Luiz C.
Cozzi, Stefano
Eyre, Bradley D.
García-Martín, E. Elena
Giani, Michele
Gonçalves-Araujo, Rafael
Gruber, Renee
Hansell, Dennis A.
Holding, Johnna M.
Hunter, William
Ibánhez, J. Severino P.
Ibello, Valeria
Kowalczuk, Piotr
Maggioni, Federica
Magni, Paolo
Martin, Patrick
McCallister, S. Leigh
Morán, Xosé Anxelu G.
Oakes, Joanne M.
Osterholz, Helena
Park, Hyekyung
Rueda-Roa, Digna
Shan, Jiang
Teira, Eva
Ward, Nicholas
Yamashita, Youhei
Yang, Liyang
Zheng, Qiang
Álvarez-Salgado, Xosé Antón

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Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in coastal waters is integral to biogeochemical cycling, but global and regional drivers of DOC are still uncertain. In this study we explored spatial and temporal differences in DOC concentrations and stocks across the global coastal ocean, and how these relate to temperature and salinity. We estimated a global median coastal DOC stock of 3.15 Pg C (interquartile range (IQR) = 0.85 Pg C), with median DOC concentrations being 2.2 times higher than in open ocean surface waters. Globally and seasonally, salinity was the main driver of DOC with concentrations correlated negatively with salinity, without a clear relationship to temperature. DOC concentrations and stocks varied with region and season and this pattern is likely driven by riverine inputs of DOC and nutrients that stimulate coastal phytoplankton production. Temporally, high DOC concentrations occurred mainly in months with high freshwater input, with some exceptions such as in Eastern Boundary Current margins where peaks are related to primary production stimulated by nutrients upwelled from the adjacent ocean. No spatial trend between DOC and temperature was apparent, but many regions (19 out of 25) had aligned peaks of seasonal temperature and DOC, related to increased phytoplankton production and vertical stratification at high temperatures. Links of coastal DOC with salinity and temperature highlight the potential for anthropogenic impacts to alter coastal DOC concentration and composition, and thereby ecosystem status.

Subject Keywords

carbon stocks, coastal ocean, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), environmental drivers, regional, seasonal

URI

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=105004268017&origin=inward
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/114845

Collections

Graduate School of Marine Sciences, Article