Phosphorus regeneration in continental margin sediments

Abstract

Benthic incubation chambers have been deployed in a variety of geochemical environments along the California Continental Margin. These include both high and low oxygen environments and sites where the rate of organic matter oxidation on the seafloor (C ox) ranges from < 1 mmol m −2 day −1 to more than 7 mmol m −2 day −1 through a depth range of 100–3500 m. This range in the rate of organic matter oxidation along with variations in the concentration of bottom water oxygen allow us to elucidate the diagenetic conditions under which P regeneration may be decoupled from organic matter cycling. Under conditions where bottom water oxygen concentration is low (<50 μM), and the rate of organic matter oxidation is also low (< 1 mmol m −2 day −1), P regeneration may be less than that expected from the decay of organic debris and, in some cases, there is a flux of phosphate into the sediments. At stations where bottom water oxygen is low, and the degradation rate of organic material is greater than 1 mmol m −2 day −1, phosphate may be released at a rate exceeding the production expected from the oxidation of organic matter. At stations having high bottom water oxygen concentrations, rates of organic matter decomposition < ∼7 mmol m −2 day −1, and where benthic irrigation is not significant, P regeneration is consistent with that expected from the decomposition of organic debris. In addition, our data indicate that high benthic iron fluxes are observed in regions exhibiting a decoupling between organic matter and phosphate, whereas low to zero iron fluxes are observed in regions where P regeneration is either consistent with or less than that expected from the decomposition of organic material. These results support previous work suggesting a coupling between iron cycling and phosphate cycling in suboxic environments. Data presented here show that this coupling may result in either preferential phosphate burial or release relative to organic material in suboxic environments.