ALBERT

Description: The L08- 22 research cruise was carried out in the framework of the BMBF project: “Searching for solutions for Carbon-sequestration in coastal ecosystems” sea4soCiety with a program of sediment sampling in coastal vegetated ecosystems in the Heiligenhafen area of the German Baltic coast. Three working days between 7th and 10th of June 2022 were used to conduct multidisciplinary research within the 3 nautical miles zone east of Heiligenhafen. The first day was dedicated to Multibeam echo sound mapping to characterize seagrass meadows, sediment/seagrass deposition spots and non-vegetated reference sites in the working area. The remaining two days were used for gravity coring, optical ground truthing, bottom water sampling, and in situ physical property measurements. Sediment cores of 15-69 cm length could be recovered from 10 selected sites and porewaters were subsampled onboard from a depo-center and from a reference site. The majority of sediment cores were handed over every evening in Heiligenhafen harbour to an onshore research team from University of Oldenburg and ZMT-Bremen. The data and samples collected on the L08-22 cruise will be used to study (1) Microbial POC degradation during erosion of vegetation-rich coastal sediments, (2) To determine POC degradation rates in coastal vegetated ecosystems of the German Baltic Sea, 3) To quantify POC accumulation rates in coastal vegetated ecosystems (seagrass and saltmarshes) of the German Baltic Sea.

Description: Dissolved silicate (H4SiO4) is essential for the formation of the opaline skeletal structures of diatoms and other siliceous plankton. A fraction of particulate biogenic silica (bSi) formed in surface waters sinks to the seabed, where it either dissolves and returns to the water column or is permanently buried. Global silica budgets are still poorly constrained since data on benthic bSi cycling are lacking, especially on continental margins. This study describes benthic bSi cycling in the Skagerrak, a sedimentary depocenter for particles from the North Sea. Biogenic silica burial fluxes, benthic H4SiO4 fluxes to the water column and bSi burial efficiencies are reported for nine stations by evaluating data from in-situ benthic landers and sediment cores with a diagenetic reaction-transport model. The model simulates bSi contents and H4SiO4 concentrations at all sites using a novel power law to describe bSi dissolution kinetics with a small number of adjustable parameters. Our results show that, on average, 1100 mmol m-2 yr-1 of bSi rains down to the Skagerrak basin seafloor, of which 50% is released back to overlying waters, with the remainder being buried. Biogenic silica cycling in the Skagerrak is generally consistent with previously reported global trends, showing higher Si fluxes and burial efficiencies than deep-sea sites and similar values compared to other continental margins. A significant finding of this work is a molar bSi-to-organic carbon burial ratio of 0.22 in Skagerrak sediments, which is distinctively lower compared to other continental margins. We suggest that the continuous dissolution of bSi in suspended sediments transported over long distances from the North Sea leads to the apparent decoupling between bSi and organic carbon in Skagerrak sediments.

Description: Enhanced mineral dissolution in the benthic environment is currently discussed as a potential technique for ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) to reduce atmospheric CO 2 levels. This study explores how biogeochemical processes affect the dissolution of alkaline minerals in surface sediments during laboratory incubation experiments. These involved introducing dunite and calcite to organic-rich sediments from the Baltic Sea under controlled conditions in an oxic environment. The sediment cores were incubated with Baltic Sea bottom water. Findings reveal that the addition of calcite increased the benthic alkalinity release from 0.4 μmol cm −2 d −1 (control) to 1.4 μmol cm −2 d −1 (calcite) as well as other weathering products such as calcium. However, these enhanced fluxes returned to lower fluxes after approximately 4 weeks yet still higher than the un-amended controls. Microbial activity appeared to be the primary driver for lowering pore water pH and thus enhanced weathering. In several sediment cores, pH profiles taken at the start of the experiments indicated activity of sulfur oxidizing Beggiatoa spp, which was verified by RNA-profiling of 16S rRNA genes. The pH profiles transitioned to those commonly associated with the activity of cable bacteria as the experiments progressed. The metabolic activity of cable bacteria would explain the significantly lower pH values (~5.6) at sediment depths of 1–3 cm, which would favor substantial calcite dissolution. However, a high abundance of cable bacteria was not reflected in 16S rRNA sequence data. Total alkalinity (TA) fluxes in these cores increased by a factor of ~3, with excess TA/calcium ratios indicating that the enhanced flux originated from calcite dissolution. The dissolution of dunite or the potential formation of secondary minerals could not be identified due to the strong natural flux of silicic acid, likely due to biogenic silica dissolution. Furthermore, no accumulation of potentially harmful metals such as nickel was observed, as highlighted as a potential risk in other studies concerning OAE. Given the complexity of sediment chemistry and changes of the benthic conditions induced by the incubation, it remains challenging to distinguish between natural and enhanced mineral weathering. Further investigation, including the identification of suitable tracers for mineral dissolution, are necessary to assess the feasibility of benthic weathering as a practical approach for OAE and climate change mitigation.

Description: In this study, we present a new 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isoscape map of Central and NE Germany. This area is characterized by an alternation of sedimentary basins and mountainous regions with a very variable lithology. Since lithology and rock age have a major impact on the isotopic composition of biologically available strontium, Central and NE Germany should reveal highly variable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios. From lithological characteristics, particularly high ratios are expected in the mountainous regions of the Erzgebirge/Fichtelgebirge and the Harz Mountains. In contrast to these predictions, published 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isoscape maps of Central and NE Germany record rather uniform and low 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios. From this observation, we suspected that existing isoscape maps might be computed from an insufficient database, with mountainous regions being underrepresented. Our goal was to gather 87 Sr/ 86 Sr baselines for each major lithology of Central and NE Germany and to produce an accurate isoscape map of Central and NE Germany. In the first step, we evaluated the suitability of stream water and groundwater as a proxy for biologically available strontium. In a selected watershed, we present mixing relationships and a stream network model. We show that groundwater is prone to very local geologic and anthropogenic influences and should thus be avoided. Instead, we focussed our further sampling on stream water. Altogether, we used 119 new measurements of groundwater and stream water and a set of 23 auxiliary variables as a database for our new isoscape map of Central and NE Germany. Due to a sampling strategy that focussed on covering each major lithology, our measurements and the final isoscape map show a clear contrast between sedimentary basins and mountainous regions. For regions that have been sufficiently sampled, a direct comparison of the isoscape map with published and new data shows good agreement. Although Central and NE Germany were part of published isoscape maps, our new map is the first that predicts 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios in mountainous regions with high accuracy.

Description: Recent studies have begun to explore the potential of enhanced benthic weathering (EBW) in the Baltic Sea as a measure for climate change mitigation. To augment the understanding of EBW under seasonally changing conditions, this study aims to investigate weathering processes under anoxia to hypoxia in corrosive bottom waters, which reflect late summer conditions in the Baltic Sea. Dunite and calcite were added to sediment cores retrieved from Eckernförde Bay (Western Baltic Sea) with a constant flow-through of deoxygenated, CO 2 -enriched Baltic Sea bottom water. The addition of both materials increased benthic alkalinity release by 2.94 μmol cm −2 d −1 (calcite) and 1.12 μmol cm −2 d −1 (dunite), compared to the unamended control experiment. These excess fluxes are significantly higher than those obtained under winter conditions. The comparison with bottom water oxygen concentrations emphasizes that highest fluxes of alkalinity were associated with anoxic phases of the experiment. An increase in Ca and Si fluxes showed that the enhanced alkalinity fluxes could be attributed to calcite and dunite weathering. First order rate constants calculated based on these data were close to rates published in previous studies conducted under different conditions. This highlights the suitability of these proxies for mineral dissolution and justifies the use of these rate constants in modeling studies investigating EBW in the Baltic Sea and areas with similar chemical conditions. Generally stable pH profiles over the course of the experiment, together with the fact that the added minerals remained on the sediment surface, suggest that corrosive bottom waters were the main driving factor for the dissolution of the added minerals. These factors have important implications for the choice of mineral and timing for EBW as a possible marine carbon dioxide removal method in seasonally hypoxic to anoxic regions of the Baltic Sea.

Description: Sediment fluxes to the seafloor govern the fate of elements and compounds in the ocean and serve as a prerequisite for research on elemental cycling, benthic processes and sediment management strategies. To quantify these fluxes over seafloor areas, it is necessary to scale up sediment mass accumulation rates (MAR) obtained from multiple sample stations. Conventional methods for spatial upscaling involve averaging of data or spatial interpolation. However, these approaches may not be sufficiently precise to account for spatial variations of MAR, leading to poorly constrained regional sediment budgets. Here, we utilize a machine learning approach to scale up porosity and 210 Pb data from 145 and 65 stations, respectively, in the Skagerrak. The models predict the spatial distributions by considering several predictor variables that are assumed to control porosity and 210 Pb rain rates. The spatial distribution of MAR is based on the predicted porosity and existing sedimentation rate data. Our findings reveal highest MAR and 210 Pb rain rates to occur in two parallel belt structures that align with the general circulation pattern in the Skagerrak. While high 210 Pb rain rates occur in intermediate water depths, the belt of high MAR is situated closer to the coastlines due to lower porosities at shallow water depths. Based on the spatial distributions, we calculate a total MAR of 34.7 Mt yr -1 and a 210 Pb rain rate of 4.7 · 10 14 dpm yr -1 . By comparing atmospheric to total 210 Pb rain rates, we further estimate that 24% of the 210 Pb originates from the local atmospheric input, with the remaining 76% being transported laterally into the Skagerrak. The updated MAR in the Skagerrak is combined with literature data on other major sediment sources and sinks to present a tentative sediment budget for the North Sea, which reveals an imbalance with sediment outputs exceeding the inputs. Substantial uncertainties in the revised Skagerrak MAR and the literature data might close this imbalance. However, we further hypothesize that previous estimates of suspended sediment inputs into the North Sea might have been underestimated, considering recently revised and elevated estimates on coastal erosion rates in the surrounding region of the North Sea.