According to a new study done by Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, and Florida Intentional University, large amount of charcoal made during wildfires on forests end up in oceans.
The finding is something new as this charcoal does not remain in the soil, as previously thought.
Instead, it is transported to the sea through rivers and enters the carbon cycle. The researchers analyzed water samples from all around the world. It showed that soluble charcoal accounts for ten percent of the total amount of dissolved organic carbon in the world's oceans.
Charcoal, or black carbon, is a residue created by combustion including wildfires and the burning of fossil fuels.
According to these estimates, about 25 million tons of dissolved charcoal is transported from land to the sea yearly.
"Most scientists thought charcoal was resistant. They thought, once it is incorporated into the soils, it would stay there," Florida researcher Rudolf Jaffe said. "But if that were the case, the soils would be black.
"From a chemical perspective, no one really thought it dissolves, but it does," Jaffe said. "It doesn't accumulate like we had for a long time believed. Rather, it is transported into wetlands and rivers, eventually making its way to the oceans." said Rudolf Jaffe, the Florida researcher.
The findings are valuable as it will help researchers to calculate and estimate the global carbon budget, a balancing act between sources that produce carbon and sinks that get rid of it.
