Long-term organic carbon preservation enhanced by iron and manganese

Oliver W. Moore (), Lisa Curti, Clare Woulds, James A. Bradley, Peyman Babakhani, Benjamin J. W. Mills, William B. Homoky, Ke-Qing Xiao, Andrew W. Bray, Ben J. Fisher, Majid Kazemian, Burkhard Kaulich, Andrew W. Dale and Caroline L. Peacock
Additional contact information
Oliver W. Moore: University of Leeds
Lisa Curti: University of Leeds
Clare Woulds: University of Leeds
James A. Bradley: Queen Mary University of London
Peyman Babakhani: University of Leeds
Benjamin J. W. Mills: University of Leeds
William B. Homoky: University of Leeds
Ke-Qing Xiao: University of Leeds
Andrew W. Bray: University of Leeds
Ben J. Fisher: University of Leeds
Majid Kazemian: Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
Burkhard Kaulich: Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
Andrew W. Dale: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
Caroline L. Peacock: University of Leeds

Nature, 2023, vol. 621, issue 7978, 312-317

Abstract: Abstract The balance between degradation and preservation of sedimentary organic carbon (OC) is important for global carbon and oxygen cycles1. The relative importance of different mechanisms and environmental conditions contributing to marine sedimentary OC preservation, however, remains unclear2–8. Simple organic molecules can be geopolymerized into recalcitrant forms by means of the Maillard reaction5, although reaction kinetics at marine sedimentary temperatures are thought to be slow9,10. More recent work in terrestrial systems suggests that the reaction can be catalysed by manganese minerals11–13, but the potential for the promotion of geopolymerized OC formation at marine sedimentary temperatures is uncertain. Here we present incubation experiments and find that iron and manganese ions and minerals abiotically catalyse the Maillard reaction by up to two orders of magnitude at temperatures relevant to continental margins where most preservation occurs4. Furthermore, the chemical signature of the reaction products closely resembles dissolved and total OC found in continental margin sediments globally. With the aid of a pore-water model14, we estimate that iron- and manganese-catalysed transformation of simple organic molecules into complex macromolecules might generate on the order of approximately 4.1 Tg C yr−1 for preservation in marine sediments. In the context of perhaps only about 63 Tg C yr−1 variation in sedimentary organic preservation over the past 300 million years6, we propose that variable iron and manganese inputs to the ocean could exert a substantial but hitherto unexplored impact on global OC preservation over geological time.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06325-9

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