Drivers of organic carbon distribution and accumulation in the northern Barents Sea

Abstract

Sedimentary properties and accumulation rates on the continental shelf and in the deep sea reflect temporal oceanographic, biological and chemical processes occurring in the water column and the sediment surface. We used the radionuclides ²¹⁰Pb, ²²⁶Ra, and ¹³⁷Cs activities to estimate sedimentation rates during the last century at nine stations in the northern Barents Sea region. Elemental (C, N) and stable isotopic composition (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) were also analysed from the nine stations sampled in August 2018, and, for five other stations sampled in August and December 2019, and in March and May 2021. Sediment accumulation rates varied between 130 and 1 410 g m⁻² y⁻¹. The < 63 μm normalized total organic carbon (TOC₆₃) and the total nitrogen from the sediment surface varied between 0.90–2.56 % and 0.13–0.33 %, respectively. Ice-free shelf stations had higher TOC₆₃ and possibly fresher organic matter (high δ¹³C, low δ¹⁵N) than ice-covered more northern stations. The opposite trend was observed for total inorganic carbon. We found that these trends in biogeochemical parameters were spatially structured by the winter sea ice concentration and biological production differences, and exhibited a south-north separation of the Polar Front region. The low and stable organic carbon accumulation rate (1.7–13.4 g C_org m^-2 y⁻¹; AR_toc) is a function of slow sedimentation rates, and high degradation and residence time in the water column and at the sediment–water interface. Overall, the AR_toc has been stable for the past 100 years, with a slight increase from the early 1970s to the present at the shelf and slope stations. Our results highlight that spatial scales of variability of the studied sedimentary parameters are linked to spatial patterns of important environmental variables (e.g., chlorophyll-a, sea ice concentration) in the region. In contrast, no seasonal differences were observed in the sediment parameters of revisited stations, and the dated sediment geochemical profiles did not exhibit substantial longer-term variation. This means that climate-induced changes in variables that modify the sedimentary geochemistry of the environment may affect benthic community activity and structure before leaving a record in AR_toc.