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Cited by 66Methane Hydrates and Related PhenomenaPaleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsGeochemistry and Elemental Analysis

Controls on the Precipitation of Carbonate Minerals Within Marine Sediments

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Turchyn, Alexandra V., Bradbury, Harold J., Walker, Kathryn, Sun, Xiaole·2021·Frontiers in Earth Science
DOI 10.3389/feart.2021.618311
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Abstract

The vast majority of carbonate minerals in modern marine sediments are biogenic, derived from the skeletal remains of organisms living in the ocean. However, carbonate minerals can also precipitate abiotically within marine sediments, and this carbonate mineral precipitation within sediments has been suggested as a third major, and isotopically distinct, sink in the global carbon cycle, particularly important earlier in Earth history. Here we present a global compilation of pore fluid data and compare the sulfate, calcium, phosphate and magnesium concentrations with pore fluid alkalinity to explore the emerging relationships and explore what drives carbonate mineral precipitation in sediments. Our data compilation shows that the gradient of pore fluid sulfate concentrations correlates strongly with the gradient of alkalinity as well as with the gradient of calcium, and that these correlations improve dramatically in sediments where methane is present. We also note that sedimentary pore fluids that are high in phosphate concentration are also high in alkalinity, which may indicate suppression of carbonate mineral precipitation in the presence of sedimentary phosphate. Our data can be used to highlight sediments where both dolomite formation and dolomitization of previously deposited calcium carbonate minerals is occurring. We explore how carbonate mineral saturation state changes as a function of calcium concentrations, alkalinity, and pH, and suggest a reason why calcium concentrations are never fully depleted in sedimentary pore fluids. We conclude that carbonate minerals precipitate in sediments with methane, where the anaerobic oxidation of this methane helps promote particularly high saturation states for carbonate minerals.

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  • Alkalinity may be lost within sediments to CaCO3 precipitation on relatively short timescales, and/or to silicate minerals (clays, i.e., reverse weathering) on longer timescales.

    “Alkalinity may be lost within sediments to CaCO3 precipitation on relatively short timescales, and/or to silicate minerals (clays, i.e., reverse weathering) on longer timescales. 19,53”

    From A framework for understanding efficiency losses of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (2026) · cites this paper as [53]

    The “Alkalinity Sources and Sinks in Marine Sediments” section identifies carbonate precipitation and authigenic clay formation (reverse weathering) as possible alkalinity sinks, and describes carbonate precipitation as rapid. It does not establish that clay formation removes alkalinity on a longer timescale than carbonate precipitation. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Turchyn, A. V., Bradbury, H. J., Walker, K., & Sun, X.
Affiliations
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • Stockholm University (SE)
Corresponding author
Turchyn, Alexandra V.
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Earth Science
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2021-02-26
Volume
9
ISSN
2296-6463 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/feart.2021.618311
OpenAlex
W3134776370
Cited by
66
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5
FWCI
3.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Earth Science (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Apollo (cc-by)
Funders
  • Natural Environment Research Council (NE/S001344/1, R013519/1, NE/R013519/1)
  • FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (307582)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
Keywords
carbonate precipitation, marine sediment, pore fluids, sulfate, alkalinity, calcium, phosphate, magnesium, methane, anaerobic oxidation of methane, dolomitization, dolomite formation, carbonate saturation state, carbon cycle, biogenic carbonates

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