Carbon outwelling and outgassing vs. burial in an estuarine tidal creek surrounded by mangrove and saltmarsh wetlands

Carbon outwelling and outgassing vs. burial in an estuarine tidal creek surrounded by mangrove and saltmarsh wetlands

Mangrove- and saltmarsh-dominated estuaries have high rates of organic carbon burial. Here, we estimate soil, pore water, and surface-water carbon fluxes in an Australian estuarine tidal creek to assess whether (1) advective pore water exchange releases some of the soil carbon, (2) outwelling (lateral exports) represents a major carbon sequestration mechanism, and (3) methane emissions offset soil carbon sequestration. A radon (222Rn) mass balance implied tidally driven pore-water exchange rates ranging from 5.5 ± 3.6 to 15.6 ± 8.1 cm d−1. Pore water exchange explained most of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and methane surface-water fluxes but not dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and alkalinity. Organic carbon burial in soils derived from 239 + 240Pu dating was 11–63 g C m−2 yr−1. Methane and carbon dioxide emissions at the water–air interface were 0.27 ± 0.03 and 63 ± 166 mmol m−2 d−1, respectively. When calculated as CO2-equivalents, aquatic CH4 emissions converted to 19–94 g C-CO2 m−2 yr−1. Upscaling methane and soil carbon fluxes to representative areas revealed that CH4 emissions could offset < 5% of soil carbon burial. DIC outwelling (12 ± 6 mmol m−2 catchment d−1) was less than five-fold greater than DOC and particulate organic carbon (POC) outwelling and four-fold greater than catchment-wide carbon burial. Because much of this DIC remains in the ocean after air–water equilibration, lateral DIC exports may represent an important long-term carbon sink. Recent research has focused on quantifying carbon burial rates in blue carbon habitats such as saltmarshes and mangroves. We suggest that DIC outwelling and methane outgassing should also be considered when assessing the carbon sequestration capacity of these coastal vegetated habitats.