Sequestration and loss of organic carbon in inland waters: From microscale to global scale

Abstract

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in inland waters plays a substantial role in the global carbon cycle and thus potentially affects climate as well. DOC is a heterogeneous mixture of decomposition products, but the character and reactivity of DOC is not well understood and neither is what controls the molecular composition of this dynamic community of compounds. Furthermore, there is growing evidence that DOC, upon degradation by microbial and other processes, contributes substantially to evasion of carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere, but is also an important precursor of carbon that is buried in sediments. This presentation is an overview of the dynamics and fluxes of carbon involving DOC, from microscale to global scale.