Subduction of Organic Carbon into the Earth

Seafloor sediments approach active subduction zones with small amounts (generally < 1 dry weight %) of organic carbon, but this small concentration nonetheless constitutes a significant flux over geological time with respect to the size, isotopic composition and electron balance of the carbosphere. In order to quantify the flux of organic carbon into subduction zones, we have examined carbon concentration and density measurements provided by successive drilling programs (DSDP, ODP, IODP) for cores that sample complete sediment sections to basement near deep sea trenches. An interpolation scheme compensates for sparse or non-uniform analyses, and a weighted bulk concentration is calculated for organic carbon (OC) and inorganic carbonate (IC) for each site. When multiplied by the sediment thickness, the trench length and the convergence velocity, a subducted mass flux can be obtained. Sites with the greatest concentration of OC include those that pass beneath regions of high biological productivity (such as the Eastern Equatorial Pacific) and those that receive terrigenous turbidites (e.g., Indus and Begal Fans, Gulf of Alaska, Cascadia, etc). Together, terrigenous turbidites make up about 60% of the global subducted sediment (GLOSS), and thus have a strong control on the concentration of OC in GLOSS. Sites dominated by terrigenous turbidites have 0.4 wt% OC on average (1sd = 0.1 wt%), and GLOSS is very similar, yielding about 6 MtC/yr OC subducted globally. This flux is enough to subduct the entire surface pool of OC every 2.6 Ga, which if not returned, or returned in a more oxidized form, could contribute to a significant rise in oxygen at the surface of the Earth. Seemingly fortuitously, the OC/total carbon fraction in GLOSS is 20%, very near the long term average required to maintain the isotopic composition of marine carbonates at ~ 0 per mil d13C over much of Earth history.