Dr. Sarah Paradis 

The seafloor is an important regulator of the global carbon cycle, since it traps and stores large amounts of organic carbon, acting as a key player mitigating climate change. Continental margins, the area that connects the ocean with the continents, accumulate the majority of organic carbon in marine sediments worldwide since they receive organic carbon from both terrestrial and marine origin. However, its potential to store organic carbon is still unresolved: while certain continental margins present optimal conditions that promote the accumulation and preservation of organic carbon, environmental processes in other areas stimulate its degradation, limiting its storage. With the accelerating effects of climate change and expanding anthropogenic disturbances that pose a threat to the organic carbon stored on the seafloor, it is crucial to characterize the role of continental margins in order to establish efficient management strategies that protect key areas.

Northern German institutions such as Alfred Wegener Institute and MARUM Center for Environmental Sciences host large global core repositories that could increase the spatiotemporal dataset of the isotopic composition of organic carbon, which would help determine the source and age of organic carbon. Collaboration with these research centers are key to resolve the unknown roles of diverse continental margins in the global carbon cycle.