Enriched stable carbon isotopes in the pore waters of carbonate sediments dominated by seagrasses: Evidence for coupled carbonate dissolution and reprecipitation

Studies of the δ13C of pore water dissolved inorganic carbon (δ13C-DIC) were carried out in shallow water carbonate sediments of the Great Bahamas Bank (GBB) to further examine sediment–seagrass relationships and to more quantitatively describe the couplings between organic matter remineralization and sediment carbonate diagenesis. At all sites studied δ13C-DIC provided evidence for the dissolution of sediment carbonate mediated by metabolic CO2 (i.e., CO2 produced during sediment organic matter remineralization); these observations are also consistent with pore water profiles of alkalinity, total DIC and Ca2+ at these sites. In bare oolitic sands, isotope mass balance further indicates that the sediment organic matter undergoing remineralization is a mixture of water column detritus and seagrass material; in sediments with intermediate seagrass densities, seagrass derived material appears to be the predominant source of organic matter undergoing remineralization. However, in sediments with high seagrass densities, the pore water δ13C-DIC data cannot be simply explained by dissolution of sediment carbonate mediated by metabolic CO2, regardless of the organic matter type. Rather, these results suggest that dissolution of metastable carbonate phases occurs in conjunction with reprecipitation of more stable carbonate phases. Simple closed system calculations support this suggestion, and are broadly consistent with results from more eutrophic Florida Bay sediments, where evidence of this type of carbonate dissolution/reprecipitation has also been observed. In conjunction with our previous work in the Bahamas, these observations provide further evidence for the important role that seagrasses play in mediating early diagenetic processes in tropical shallow water carbonate sediments. At the same time, when these results are compared with results from other terrigenous coastal sediments, as well as supralysoclinal carbonate-rich deep-sea sediments, they suggest that carbonate dissolution/reprecipitation may be more important than previously thought, in general, in the early diagenesis of marine sediments.