Underestimated input of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon to the ocean

The contribution of terrestrial dissolved organic matter (DOM) to the ocean has been an enigma for decades. Tracking terrestrial DOM in the ocean has proven challenging due to factors such as the instability of terrestrial biomarkers, indistinguishable carbon isotopes from biogeochemical fractionation, and similar chemical composition between terrestrial and oceanic DOM. Here, we show that the terrestrial contribution to oceanic organic carbon pools is 1.7 to 2.5 times higher than previously assumed, highlighting the need to adjust global carbon cycle models. We derive these estimates by bridging high-performance liquid chromatography with ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry to investigate the presence of terrestrial molecules that are transported from rivers to the ocean and estimate their contribution to oceanic DOM. We identified 269 molecular formulae (MF) that are likely transported from land to the ocean. These formulae exhibited resistance to biological and photochemical degradation in incubation experiments, and were widely distributed in global rivers, marginal seas, and open oceans, suggesting that they are ubiquitous in inland and ocean waters and have a similar source. By relating the abundances of terrestrially derived MF to dissolved organic carbon concentrations, and radiocarbon measurements, we estimated that 16.7 to 25.0% of oceanic DOM is likely derived from rivers.

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Publication Details

Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2025-11-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2505838122
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Marine and coastal ecosystems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
7.17
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article

Underestimated input of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon to the ocean

Ding He, Jeffrey A. Hawkes, Helena Osterholz, Andrew J. Tanentzap et al.
4 citations
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Marine and coastal ecosystems
7.17
article

Underestimated input of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon to the ocean

Ding He, Jeffrey A. Hawkes, Helena Osterholz, Andrew J. Tanentzap, Julian Merder, Hongyan Bao, Si‐Liang Li, Quan Shi, Yuanbi Yi, Meixun Zhao, Ruanhong Cai, Chuanlun Zhang, Sheng Xu, Chen He, Cong-Qiang Liu
article en
4 citations

Abstract

The contribution of terrestrial dissolved organic matter (DOM) to the ocean has been an enigma for decades. Tracking terrestrial DOM in the ocean has proven challenging due to factors such as the instability of terrestrial biomarkers, indistinguishable carbon isotopes from biogeochemical fractionation, and similar chemical composition between terrestrial and oceanic DOM. Here, we show that the terrestrial contribution to oceanic organic carbon pools is 1.7 to 2.5 times higher than previously assumed, highlighting the need to adjust global carbon cycle models. We derive these estimates by bridging high-performance liquid chromatography with ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry to investigate the presence of terrestrial molecules that are transported from rivers to the ocean and estimate their contribution to oceanic DOM. We identified 269 molecular formulae (MF) that are likely transported from land to the ocean. These formulae exhibited resistance to biological and photochemical degradation in incubation experiments, and were widely distributed in global rivers, marginal seas, and open oceans, suggesting that they are ubiquitous in inland and ocean waters and have a similar source. By relating the abundances of terrestrially derived MF to dissolved organic carbon concentrations, and radiocarbon measurements, we estimated that 16.7 to 25.0% of oceanic DOM is likely derived from rivers.

Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVol. 122(45)
Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (DE), Tianjin University (CN), Xiamen University (CN), Carnegie Institution for Science (US), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK), China University of Petroleum, Beijing (CN), Ocean Park Conservation Foundation (HK), Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (CN), Science for Life Laboratory (SE), Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (DE), Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), OceanX Technology (China) (CN), Nano Carbon (Poland) (PL), Laoshan Laboratory, Ocean University of China (CN), Trent University (CA), University of Hong Kong (HK)
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Marine and coastal ecosystems
7.17
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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