How much organic carbon have UK lakes stored in the Holocene? A preliminary estimate

Temperate lake sediments store a substantial amount of organic carbon (OC) over millennia. Despite the importance of quantifying terrestrial carbon budgets for Nature-based Solutions, the long-term accumulation of OC in European temperate lakes is poorly constrained. In this study, we analyzed 30 lake sediment records to generate a preliminary first-order estimate of Holocene OC accumulation rate (OCAR) and OC storage in UK lakes. We also examined the environmental variables that influence OCAR and produced synthesized Holocene records of %OC and z-scores of log-transformed OCAR and sediment accumulation rate (SAR) at 500-year resolution. Based on our estimation, we report an average Holocene OCAR of 7.4 ± 5.5 g C m−2 yr−1 and a Holocene total OC storage of 0.24 ± 0.18 Pg C in UK lakes. Apart from latitude, no relationship was found between the average Holocene OCAR and the various environmental variables (i.e. temperature, precipitation, surface area, catchment area, depth, altitude, and geology type). During the Holocene, OCAR closely resembles variations in SAR, whereas the increase in %OC is likely explained by the warming climate. Early Holocene variations in OCAR were primarily climate-driven. In contrast, the anthropogenic impact on the landscape exerted a predominant influence on OC burial during the middle-late Holocene. Our results improve the current understanding of terrestrial carbon budgets in the UK and demonstrate the under-appreciated importance of lakes as long-term OC stores.