The Input and Mineralization of Organic Carbon in Anaerobic Aquatic Sediments

Abstract

The bottom sediments in both marine and freshwater ecosystems are important sites of mineralization and nutrient recycling, particularly where there is shallow water together with high productivity so that there is rapid input of organic carbon to the sediment. In most coastal and intertidal areas and in eutrophic lakes, productivity is relatively high and detrital input to the bottom sediments is appreciable, with the result that much of the sediments in these regions is anaerobic and reduced, apart perhaps from a thin aerobic surface layer. Therefore, at least potentially, a considerable portion of the organic carbon mineralization in these aquatic ecosystems may go on in the sediment under anaerobic rather than aerobic conditions.