Quantification of blue carbon pathways contributing to negative feedback on climate change following glacier retreat in West Antarctic fjords

• DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15898
• Publication Date: 2021-10-21T05:47:36Z
• Authors: Nadescha Zwerschke; Chester J. Sands; Alejandro Roman‐G...; David K. A. Barnes; Alice Guzzi; Stuart Jenkins; Carlos Muñoz‐Ramírez; James Scourse
• Keywords: Fjord; Sediment trap; Carbon sink; Future sea level; Sink (geography)

Abstract Global warming is causing significant losses of marine ice around the polar regions. In Antarctica, retreat tidewater glaciers opening up novel, low‐energy habitats (fjords) that have potential to provide a negative feedback loop climate change. These fjords are being colonized by organisms on and within sediment act as sink for particulate matter. So far, blue carbon in Antarctic has mainly been estimated using epifaunal megazoobenthos (although some studies also considered macrozoobenthos). We investigated two further pathways storage sequestration measuring concentration infaunal macrozoobenthos total organic (TOC) deposited sediment. took samples along temporal gradient since time last glacier cover (1–1000 years) at three West Peninsula. tested hypothesis seabed standing stock would be driven covered. However, results showed this much more complex. Infauna were highly variable over similar mass per m 2 literature estimates epifauna. TOC sediment, however, was an order magnitude greater than stocks increased with cover. Thus, recent gains Antarctica likely higher previously their