Overlooked shelf sediment reductive sinks of dissolved rhenium and uranium in the modern ocean

Qingquan Hong, Yilin Cheng, Yang Qu, Lin Wei, Yumeng Liu, Jianfeng Gao, Pinghe Cai and Tianyu Chen ()
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Qingquan Hong: Nanjing University
Yilin Cheng: Xiamen University
Yang Qu: Nanjing University
Lin Wei: Xiamen University
Yumeng Liu: Nanjing University
Jianfeng Gao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Pinghe Cai: Xiamen University
Tianyu Chen: Nanjing University

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Rhenium (Re) and uranium (U) are essential proxies in reconstructing past oceanic oxygenation evolution. However, their removal in continental shelf sediments, hotspots of early diagenesis, were previously treated as quantitatively unimportant sinks in the ocean. Here we examine the sedimentary reductive removal of Re and U and their coupling with organic carbon decomposition, utilizing the 224Ra/228Th disequilibria within the East China Sea shelf. We identified positive correlations between their removal fluxes and the rates of sediment oxygen consumption or organic carbon decomposition. These correlations enable an evaluation of global shelf reductive sinks that are comparable to (for Re) or higher than (~4-fold for U) previously established suboxic/anoxic sinks. These findings suggest potential imbalances in the modern budgets of Re and U, or perhaps a substantial underestimation of their sources. Our study thus highlights shelf sedimentary reductive removal as critical yet overlooked sinks for Re and U in the modern ocean.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48297-y

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