Efficient export of carbon to the deep ocean through dissolved organic matter

Oceanic dissolved organic carbon (DOC) constitutes one of the largest pools of reduced carbon in the biosphere. Estimated DOC export from the surface ocean represents 20% of total organic carbon flux to the deep ocean, which constitutes a primary control on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. DOC is the carbon component of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and an accurate quantification of DOM pools, fluxes and their controls is therefore critical to understanding oceanic carbon cycling. DOC export is directly coupled with dissolved organic nitrogen and phosphorus export. However, the C:N:P stoichiometry (by atoms) of DOM dynamics is poorly understood. Here we study the stoichiometry of the DOM pool and of DOM decomposition in continental shelf, continental slope and central ocean gyre environments. We find that DOM is remineralized and produced with a C:N:P stoichiometry of 199:20:1 that is substantially lower than for bulk pools (typically >775:54:1), but greater than for particulate organic matter (106:16:1--the Redfield ratio). Thus for a given mass of new N and P introduced into surface water, more DOC can be exported than would occur at the Redfield ratio. This may contribute to the excess respiration estimated to occur in the interior ocean. Our results place an explicit constraint on global carbon export and elemental balance via advective pathways.     

Young organic matter as a source of carbon dioxide outgassing from Amazonian rivers

Rivers are generally supersaturated with respect to carbon dioxide, resulting in large gas evasion fluxes that can be a significant component of regional net carbon budgets. Amazonian rivers were recently shown to outgas more than ten times the amount of carbon exported to the ocean in the form of total organic carbon or dissolved inorganic carbon. High carbon dioxide concentrations in rivers originate largely from in situ respiration of organic carbon, but little agreement exists about the sources or turnover times of this carbon. Here we present results of an extensive survey of the carbon isotope composition (13C and 14C) of dissolved inorganic carbon and three size-fractions of organic carbon across the Amazonian river system. We find that respiration of contemporary organic matter (less than five years old) originating on land and near rivers is the dominant source of excess carbon dioxide that drives outgassing in medium to large rivers, although we find that bulk organic carbon fractions transported by these rivers range from tens to thousands of years in age. We therefore suggest that a small, rapidly cycling pool of organic carbon is responsible for the large carbon fluxes from land to water to atmosphere in the humid tropics.     

Effects of dissolved organic matter on the growth and pigments synthesis of Spirulina platensis (Arthrospira)

Excessive accumulation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the culture ponds of Spirulina platensis is usually considered to be one of the potential factors affecting the production of S. platensis, however, we are not quite aware of effects of DOM on the growth and pigments synthesis of S. platensis. In the present study, S. platensis was grown in batch or semi?continuous cultures using the filtrate in the culture ponds that had not been renewed for years. It was found that disssolved organic carbon up to 60 mg/L did not bring about an inhibitory effect on the growth of S. platensis, but increased the contents of chlorophyll a and phycocyanin instead. However, further accumulation of dissolved organic matter could decrease the content of chlorophyll a.     

Polysaccharide aggregation as a potential sink of marine dissolved organic carbon

The formation and sinking of biogenic particles mediate vertical mass fluxes and drive elemental cycling in the ocean. Whereas marine sciences have focused primarily on particle production by phytoplankton growth, particle formation by the assembly of organic macromolecules has almost been neglected. Here we show, by means of a combined experimental and modelling study, that the formation of polysaccharide particles is an important pathway to convert dissolved into particulate organic carbon during phytoplankton blooms, and can be described in terms of aggregation kinetics. Our findings suggest that aggregation processes in the ocean cascade from the molecular scale up to the size of fast-settling particles, and give new insights into the cycling and export of biogeochemical key elements such as carbon, iron and thorium.     

Riverine export of aged terrestrial organic matter to the North Atlantic Ocean

Global riverine discharge of organic matter represents a substantial source of terrestrial dissolved and particulate organic carbon to the oceans. This input from rivers is, by itself, more than large enough to account for the apparent steady-state replacement times of 4,00-6,000 yr for oceanic dissolved organic carbon. But paradoxically, terrestrial organic matter, derived from land plants, is not detected in seawater and sediments in quantities that correspond to its inputs. Here we present natural 14C and 13C data from four rivers that discharge to the western North Atlantic Ocean and find that these rivers are sources of old (14C-depleted) and young (14C-enriched) terrestrial dissolved organic carbon, and of predominantly old terrestrial particulate organic carbon. These findings contrast with limited earlier data that suggested terrestrial organic matter transported by rivers might be generally enriched in 14C from nuclear testing, and hence newly produced. We also find that much of the young dissolved organic carbon can be selectively degraded over the residence times of river and coastal waters, leaving an even older and more refractory component for oceanic export. Thus, pre-ageing and degradation may alter significantly the structure, distributions and quantities of terrestrial organic matter before its delivery to the oceans.     

黑土对冻融有机质的吸附作用

用批次实验方法研究黑土对冻融溶解性有机质（DOM, 来源于秸秆和污泥）的吸附作用. 结果表明, 在DOM平衡质量浓度范围内, 多数情况下DOM不仅
未被黑土吸附, 反而促进黑土有机质的解吸释放. 与未冻融DOM相比, 冻融DOM对黑土有机质的解吸释放作用更强. 冻融DOM对黑土有机质的解吸释放作用受体系pH值、 离子强度和离子类型影响较大: DOM对黑土有机质的解吸作用随pH值的增加和离子强度的降低而增加; 当离子类型为二价阳离子Ca²⁺时, DOM对黑土有机质的解吸作用大于离子类型为一价阳离子的情形; 在不同阴离子条件下, DOM对黑土有机质的解吸作用为Cl^->SO^2-₄>NO^-_3.     

Fate of secondary effluent dissolved organic matter during soil-aquifer treatment

The reduction of mass and trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP) of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and its fractions from secondary effluent during laboratory-scale soil-aquifer treatment (SAT) soil columns were studied. Reduction in dissolved organic carbon (DOC), absorbance of ultraviolet light at 254 nm (UV-254), biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) and nonbiodegradable dis- solved organic carbon (NBDOC) for the bulk DOM averaged 72.35%, 53.98%, 97.49% and 35.33% across the soil columns, respectively. Using XAD-8 and XAD-4 resins, DOM was fractionated into 3 fractions: hydrophobic acid (HPO-A), transphilic acid (TPI-A) and hydrophilic fraction (HPI). HPO-A was removed by 61.06%, TPI-A by 54.86% and HPI by 74.95% as DOC as a consequence of the laboratory-scale SAT, respectively. The reduction of THMFP from HPO-A, TPI-A and HPI was 27.24%, 26.24% and 36.08%, respectively. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectra revealed that the HPO-A isolated from the secondary effluent contained more aromatic functional groups than the corresponding TPI-A. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum analysis illustrated that TPI-A had decreased hydrocarbon and increased aromatics content in the SAT columns. Specific ultraviolet light absorbance (SUVA) and specific THMFP for each DOM fraction increased across the soil columns and HPI exhibited greater increase in both than HPO-A and TPI-A. The most problematic THM precursor was found to be HPO-A with its high quantity present in recharged water and high chlorine reactivity.     

Evidence for non-selective preservation of organic matter in sinking marine particles

The sinking of particulate organic matter from ocean surface waters transports carbon to the ocean interior, where almost all is then recycled. The unrecycled fraction of this organic matter can become buried in ocean sediments, thus sequestering carbon and so influencing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. The processes controlling the extensive biodegradation of sinking particles remain unclear, partly because of the difficulty in resolving the composition of the residual organic matter at depth with existing chromatographic techniques. Here, using solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy, we characterize the chemical structure of organic carbon in both surface plankton and sinking particulate matter from the Pacific Ocean and the Arabian Sea. We found that minimal changes occur in bulk organic composition, despite extensive (>98%) biodegradation, and that amino-acid-like material predominates throughout the water column in both regions. The compositional similarity between phytoplankton biomass and the small remnant of organic matter reaching the ocean interior indicates that the formation of unusual biochemicals, either by chemical recombination or microbial biosynthesis, is not the main process controlling the preservation of particulate organic carbon within the water column at these two sites. We suggest instead that organic matter might be protected from degradation by the inorganic matrix of sinking particles.     

无机盐和有机物对纳滤膜除砷效率的研究

采用纳滤膜(NF90,NF270,HL)低压错流过滤含砷水,研究一价、二价无机离子和溶解性天然有机物(dissolved organic matter,DOM)对纳滤膜去除水中五价砷(As(Ⅴ))的影响.研究结果表明,原水中无机盐使纳滤膜通量下降,且无机盐浓度增加,通量下降量增大.无机离子的存在导致纳滤膜除砷效率降低,但随着无机离子浓度的增加,砷的去除效率呈现出升高的趋势.天然有机物对纳滤膜除砷效率也有很大的影响,有机物能与砷缔合,且有机物在膜表面形成的凝聚层直接影响纳滤膜对砷的去除效果.     

A carbon isotope record of CO2 levels during the late Quaternary

Analyses of gases trapped in continental ice sheets have shown that the concentration of CO2 in the Earth's early atmosphere increased from 180 to 280 p.p.m. during the most recent glacial-interglacial transition. This change must have been driven by an increase in the concentration of CO2 dissolved in the mixed layer of the ocean. Biochemical and physiological factors associated with photosynthetic carbon fixation in this layer should lead to a relationship between concentrations of dissolved CO2 and the carbon isotopic composition of phytoplanktonic organic material, such that increased atmospheric CO2 should enhance the difference in 13C content between dissolved inorganic carbon and organic products of photosynthesis. Here we show that a signal related to atmospheric CO2 levels can be seen in the isotope record of a hemipelagic sediment core, which we can correlate with the CO2 record of the Vostok ice core. Calibration of the relationship between isotope fractionation and CO2 levels should permit the extrapolation of CO2 records to times earlier than those for which ice-core records are available.     

不同分子量DOM对垃圾渗滤液生物处理组合工艺中DBP和DEHP去除率的影响

采用小型生物处理组合工艺(上流式厌氧污泥床+曝气生物滤池+缺氧反应器+膜生物反应器, UASB+ BAF+ANO+MBR)处理老龄垃圾渗滤液, 考察了邻苯二甲酸二丁酯(DBP)和邻苯二甲酸二(2-乙基己基)酯(DEHP)两种内分泌干扰物在组合工艺中的去除, 以及与渗滤液中溶解性有机质(DOM)去除的关系。结果表明, 组合工艺对DBP和DEHP的去除率可分别达到92.9%和95.2%, 且与DOM腐殖化作用(即腐殖质的芳香性和分子量)密切相关。溶解性有机碳(DOC)主要分布在分子量为1~100 kDa的有机组分中, 此时腐殖质的芳香性较强, DBP和DEHP的浓度也较高。经过工艺处理后, 该组分的DOC和芳香性有效降低, 相应两种污染物的去除效果也更为明显。渗滤液原水及各工艺段中DOC与DBP及DEHP浓度的正相关性, 表明二者之间相互作用更有利于污染物的有效去除。     

不同营林措施对森林土壤DOM的影响研究进展

可溶性有机质(Dissolved Organic Matter)虽然只占土壤有机质的一小部分,但许多土壤过程都与它们有关.从皆伐火烧、整地、施肥、水分管理等方面,综述了不同营林措施对森林土壤DOM的影响,同时探讨了未来的研究方向及存在的问题.     

Climate-driven trends in contemporary ocean productivity

Contributing roughly half of the biosphere's net primary production (NPP), photosynthesis by oceanic phytoplankton is a vital link in the cycling of carbon between living and inorganic stocks. Each day, more than a hundred million tons of carbon in the form of CO2 are fixed into organic material by these ubiquitous, microscopic plants of the upper ocean, and each day a similar amount of organic carbon is transferred into marine ecosystems by sinking and grazing. The distribution of phytoplankton biomass and NPP is defined by the availability of light and nutrients (nitrogen, phosphate, iron). These growth-limiting factors are in turn regulated by physical processes of ocean circulation, mixed-layer dynamics, upwelling, atmospheric dust deposition, and the solar cycle. Satellite measurements of ocean colour provide a means of quantifying ocean productivity on a global scale and linking its variability to environmental factors. Here we describe global ocean NPP changes detected from space over the past decade. The period is dominated by an initial increase in NPP of 1,930 teragrams of carbon a year (Tg C yr(-1)), followed by a prolonged decrease averaging 190 Tg C yr(-1). These trends are driven by changes occurring in the expansive stratified low-latitude oceans and are tightly coupled to coincident climate variability. This link between the physical environment and ocean biology functions through changes in upper-ocean temperature and stratification, which influence the availability of nutrients for phytoplankton growth. The observed reductions in ocean productivity during the recent post-1999 warming period provide insight on how future climate change can alter marine food webs.     

Bacterial carbon processing by generalist species in the coastal ocean

The assimilation and mineralization of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) by marine bacterioplankton is a major process in the ocean carbon cycle. However, little information exists on the specific metabolic functions of participating bacteria and on whether individual taxa specialize on particular components of the marine DOC pool. Here we use experimental metagenomics to show that coastal communities are populated by taxa capable of metabolizing a wide variety of organic carbon compounds. Genomic DNA captured from bacterial community subsets metabolizing a single model component of the DOC pool (either dimethylsulphoniopropionate or vanillate) showed substantial overlap in gene composition as well as a diversity of carbon-processing capabilities beyond the selected phenotypes. Our direct measure of niche breadth for bacterial functional assemblages indicates that, in accordance with ecological theory, heterogeneity in the composition and supply of organic carbon to coastal oceans may favour generalist bacteria. In the important interplay between microbial community structure and biogeochemical cycling, coastal heterotrophic communities may be controlled less by transient changes in the carbon reservoir that they process and more by factors such as trophic interactions and physical conditions.     

生物炭在矿区农田土壤中与镉的纵向共迁移行为

以广东韶关大宝山矿山废水污染的农田为研究对象,利用超纯水和甲苯/甲醇提取的溶解性有机质(DOM)的三维荧光光谱平行因子分析(EEM-PARAFAC)技术,追踪荔枝树枝生物炭1年内在土壤层0~100 cm深度范围的迁移行为及其协同重金属镉(Cd)的纵向迁移性质. 结果表明:生物炭增加了0~60 cm深土壤层溶解性有机碳(DOC)的质量分数,增加了表层土壤的pH,对深层土壤pH无明显影响;EEM-PARAFAC解析得到3个DOM组分(1个类蛋白和2个类腐殖质组分),生物炭的添加增大了0~60 cm深土壤层类腐殖质的质量分数;并且甲苯/甲醇提取的DOM在0~60 cm深土壤层中均检测出生物炭特有的多环芳烃结构,说明生物炭在1年内发生了明显的纵向迁移;生物炭能够有效降低0~20 cm深土壤中有效态Cd的质量分数,但20~60 cm深土层中有效态Cd与对照组的相比最高增加了148%左右. 研究表明:需要特别关注生物炭协同重金属在土壤中纵向迁移行为所带来的环境影响.     

Enhanced biological carbon consumption in a high CO2 ocean

The oceans have absorbed nearly half of the fossil-fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the atmosphere since pre-industrial times, causing a measurable reduction in seawater pH and carbonate saturation. If CO2 emissions continue to rise at current rates, upper-ocean pH will decrease to levels lower than have existed for tens of millions of years and, critically, at a rate of change 100 times greater than at any time over this period. Recent studies have shown effects of ocean acidification on a variety of marine life forms, in particular calcifying organisms. Consequences at the community to ecosystem level, in contrast, are largely unknown. Here we show that dissolved inorganic carbon consumption of a natural plankton community maintained in mesocosm enclosures at initial CO2 partial pressures of 350, 700 and 1,050 microatm increases with rising CO2. The community consumed up to 39% more dissolved inorganic carbon at increased CO2 partial pressures compared to present levels, whereas nutrient uptake remained the same. The stoichiometry of carbon to nitrogen drawdown increased from 6.0 at low CO2 to 8.0 at high CO2, thus exceeding the Redfield carbon:nitrogen ratio of 6.6 in today's ocean. This excess carbon consumption was associated with higher loss of organic carbon from the upper layer of the stratified mesocosms. If applicable to the natural environment, the observed responses have implications for a variety of marine biological and biogeochemical processes, and underscore the importance of biologically driven feedbacks in the ocean to global change.     

垃圾渗滤液厌氧降解中溶解性有机物的光谱特性

为探讨渗滤液厌氧降解出水中有机物的构成特点和变化规律,采用XAD-8和XAD-4树脂将溶解性有机物(DOM)依亲疏水性和酸碱性特征分为5种组分,对不同水力停留时间(HRT)下厌氧序批式反应器(ASBR)出水中各组分的含量和特性进行了比较研究.结果表明:ASBR处理渗滤液中溶解性有机碳(DOC)去除率可达53.0%～94.7%;芳香类物质多存在于疏水性组分中,厌氧处理后各组分UV254明显下降,芳香类、羧酸和氨基化合物去除明显;随着HRT的延长,富里酸类荧光物质易在出水中累积而造成累计荧光强度Фi,n增大,而芳香性蛋白及溶解性微生物副产物较之更易降解.可见ASBR能有效降解渗滤液DOM各组分物质.     

溶解性有机质对重金属在土壤中吸附和迁移的影响

溶解性有机质(DOM)是土壤中最具有活性的组分,可以与重金属发生吸附、解吸、络合等一系列作用,对重金属的迁移转化、生物有效性等产生一系列重要影响。通过实验研究溶解性有机质对重金属吸附和迁移的影响。吸附实验表明,重金属Cu、Pb、Cr、Cd在土壤中吸附能力是不同的,土壤对重金属吸附能力的大小顺序为PbCuCrCd。土柱实验表明,重金属Cu、Pb、Cd、Cr在土壤中的迁移规律相似,均为前期淋出液重金属含量较低,后期随时间的增大而增大,当达到吸附饱和后浓度趋于稳定。但不同重金属迁移速率各不相同,这与吸附实验结果相符。溶解性有机质的存在对重金属迁移的影响主要体现在迁移速率上,其穿透时间比去除有机质的情况短,有机质的存在有利于重金属离子向下迁移,但当达到饱和后对重金属迁移浓度影响不显著。     

Whole-lake carbon-13 additions reveal terrestrial support of aquatic food webs

Ecosystems are supported by organic carbon from two distinct sources. Endogenous carbon is produced by photosynthesis within an ecosystem by autotrophic organisms. Exogenous carbon is produced elsewhere and transported into ecosystems. Consumers may use exogenous carbon with consequent influences on population dynamics, predator-prey relationships and ecosystem processes. For example, exogenous inputs provide resources that may enhance consumer abundance beyond levels supported by within-system primary production. Exogenous fluxes of organic carbon to ecosystems are often large, but this material is recalcitrant and difficult to assimilate, in contrast to endogenously produced organic matter, which is used more easily. Here we show, by the experimental manipulation of dissolved inorganic (13)C in two lakes, that internal primary production is insufficient to support the food webs of these ecosystems. Additions of NaH(13)CO(3) enriched the (13)C content of dissolved inorganic carbon, particulate organic carbon, zooplankton and fish. Dynamics of (13)C indicate that 40-55% of particulate organic carbon and 22-50% of zooplankton carbon are derived from terrestrial sources, showing that there is significant subsidy of these ecosystems by organic carbon produced outside their boundaries.     

Uncovering the Neoproterozoic carbon cycle

Interpretations of major climatic and biological events in Earth history are, in large part, derived from the stable carbon isotope records of carbonate rocks and sedimentary organic matter. Neoproterozoic carbonate records contain unusual and large negative isotopic anomalies within long periods (10-100 million years) characterized by δ(13)C in carbonate (δ(13)C(carb)) enriched to more than +5 per mil. Classically, δ(13)C(carb) is interpreted as a metric of the relative fraction of carbon buried as organic matter in marine sediments, which can be linked to oxygen accumulation through the stoichiometry of primary production. If a change in the isotopic composition of marine dissolved inorganic carbon is responsible for these excursions, it is expected that records of δ(13)C(carb) and δ(13)C in organic carbon (δ(13)C(org)) will covary, offset by the fractionation imparted by primary production. The documentation of several Neoproterozoic δ(13)C(carb) excursions that are decoupled from δ(13)C(org), however, indicates that other mechanisms may account for these excursions. Here we present δ(13)C data from Mongolia, northwest Canada and Namibia that capture multiple large-amplitude (over 10 per mil) negative carbon isotope anomalies, and use these data in a new quantitative mixing model to examine the behaviour of the Neoproterozoic carbon cycle. We find that carbonate and organic carbon isotope data from Mongolia and Canada are tightly coupled through multiple δ(13)C(carb) excursions, quantitatively ruling out previously suggested alternative explanations, such as diagenesis or the presence and terminal oxidation of a large marine dissolved organic carbon reservoir. Our data from Namibia, which do not record isotopic covariance, can be explained by simple mixing with a detrital flux of organic matter. We thus interpret δ(13)C(carb) anomalies as recording a primary perturbation to the surface carbon cycle. This interpretation requires the revisiting of models linking drastic isotope excursions to deep ocean oxygenation and the opening of environments capable of supporting animals.