The influence of shellfish farming on sedimentary organic carbon mineralization: A case study in a coastal scallop farming area of Yantai, China

Abstract

This study quantified the rate and relative contribution of each sedimentary organic carbon (OC) mineralization pathway in the Yantai coastal area. The results showed that scallop farming activities with raft-breeding facilities led to increased accumulation of OC and reactive Fe(III), which in turn promoted OC aerobic mineralization, Fe reduction, and competitively inhibited sulfate reduction. In the scallop farming area (SFA), O2 reduction, dissimilatory Fe reduction, and sulfate reduction contributed 32.17 %, 27.77 %, and 30.18 % of the total OC mineralization, 1.6 times, 1.2 times, and 0.6 times those of the non-farming area, respectively. Nevertheless, scallop harvesting and resuspension by water currents will increase the short-term risk of dissolved inorganic carbon accumulation in the water column. The OC budget showed that the Yantai coastal area exhibited more OC mineralization than storage, with only 5.0–7.2 % of the net settled OC being permanently buried in the sediment.