2Chapter 9 Organic Carbon Remineralization Rates in Marine Surface Sediments

The remineralization of organic carbon in marine sediments occurs through different oxidative reactions in which the ultimate electron acceptors are O2, NO3−, Mn-oxides, Fe-oxides, SO42−, and CO2 (Froelich et al. 1979). The relative importance of the various processes changes with sediment type and sedimentation rate, but generally, oxic mineralization becomes more important with increasing water depth (Caneld et al. 1993).