Miguel Goni

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor at Oregon State University

Samples from the upper surface sediments of Obhur Lagoon - north Jeddah were collected to determine the concentrations, spatial distribution, and sources of natural lipids. The lagoon was divided into three zones based on their immediate ecosystems: Z I (adjoining inland), Z II (the region between Z I and the adjacent coastal Z III), and Z III (coa...

Concentration‐discharge (C‐Q) relationships of total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), particulate organic carbon (POC), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were investigated in the tributaries and main‐stems of two mountainous river systems with distinct watershed characteristics (Eel and Umpqua rivers) in Northern California an...

Following sea‐ice retreat, surface waters of Arctic marginal seas become nutrient‐limited and subsurface chlorophyll maxima (SCM) develop below the pycnocline where nutrients and light conditions are favorable. However, the importance of these “hidden” features for regional productivity is not well constrained. Here, we use a unique combination of...

Submarine canyons are important conduits of sediment and organic matter to deep-sea environments, mainly during high-energy natural events such as storms, river floods, or dense shelf water cascading, but also due to human activities such as bottom trawling. The contributions of natural and trawling-induced sediment and organic matter inputs into P...

This study examines dissolved rhenium (Re) concentrations as a function of water runoff using river samples from two contrasting mountainous watersheds, the Eel and Umpqua Rivers in the Pacific Northwest, USA. These watersheds share many key characteristics in terms of size, discharge, climate, and vegetation, but they have a 15-fold difference in...

Surface sediment samples from the Arabian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia were collected by Van Veen grab sampler to identify the characteristics, distribution, and levels and to discriminate between natural and anthropogenic sources of the total extractable organic matter (TEOM). The dried and sieved sediments were extracted with a dichloromethane/me...

Surface sediment samples from the Arabian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia were collected by Van Veen grab sampler to identify the characteristics, distribution, levels, and to discriminate between natural and anthropogenic sources of the total extractable organic matter (TEOM). The dried and sieved sediments were extracted with a dichloromethane/methano...

On geologic timescales, global climate is controlled by the supply of fresh minerals to Earth’s surface. Carbonic acid driven weathering of silicate minerals removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, but weathering of accessory carbonates and sulfides within silicate rocks can at the same time be a source of CO2 to the atmosphere. Similarly...

Two oceanographic cruises were completed in September 2016 and August 2017 to investigate the distribution of particulate organic matter (POM) across the northeast Chukchi Shelf. Both periods were characterized by highly stratified conditions, with major contrasts in the distribution of regional water masses that impacted POM distributions. Overall...

This document is the product of a multi-year effort that started with a two-and-a-half-day workshop organized by the NASA Ocean Ecology Lab Field Support Group and hosted at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from November 30–December 2, 2016. The original objective was to produce community consensus protocols for sample collection, filtration, stora...

The editorial team at JGR: Biogeosciences would like to extend thanks to the 2020 reviewers who offered their time and expertize to help us make decisions on and improve papers.

The outgoing and incoming editors in chief of JGR: Biogeosciences reflect on recent years of growth and expansion in the journal while they ponder and plan for the challenges ahead.

Plain Language Summary Bottom trawling grounds have been expanding to deeper areas of the oceans since the mid‐XXth century, causing substantial effects to fish populations. In order to reduce this impact, new management strategies have been introduced, such as establishing temporal trawling closures to allow fish populations to recover. Bottom tra...

Semi-automated sampling via the surface underway systems of research vessels was used to explore the distribution and composition of particulate organic matter in surface waters of the northern California Current ecosystem during winter, a poorly studied period that is characterized by downwelling favorable winds and elevated discharge by coastal r...

This study investigates the effect of erosion rate on the chemical weathering and characterizes the dissolved geochemistry of two contrasting watersheds. The Eel and Umpqua Rivers share many key characteristics in terms of size, discharge, climate, and vegetation, but they have a 10-fold difference in sediment yield due to their tectonic setting an...

The distribution of nutrients influences the Chukchi Sea's rich ecosystems and affectsthe biogeochemistry of the central Arctic. Nutrients that become limiting in the late summer can be replenished episodically by physical processes that are likely to change in concert with Arctic climate trends. Here we report on unique, simultaneous, physical, an...

Between the land and ocean, diverse coastal ecosystems transform, store, and transport material. Across these interfaces, the dynamic exchange of energy and matter is driven by hydrological and hydrodynamic processes such as river and groundwater discharge, tides, waves, and storms. These dynamics regulate ecosystem functions and Earth’s climate, y...

Key Points Introduction to special issue

Plain Language Summary The Editors of JGR‐Biogeosciences recognize the 791 reviewers who contributed 1,235 reviews in 2019. The outstanding efforts of these reviewers are integral to the impact and success of the journal.

Georespiration, which refers to the mineralization of organic carbon in rocks, is a major source of CO2 to the atmosphere and an important control on Earth’s climate over geologic timescales. The goal of our research project is to investigate the relationship between erosion and geologic respiration. In this study, we examine how geologic respirati...

Climate change is leading to marked decreases in the extent, thickness and persistence of sea ice in Polar Regions, especially during the later summer and fall seasons. The expanded open water domain during this period has the potential to drastically affect the hydrography, biogeochemistry and ecology of Arctic seas. In view of these rapid changes...

The coastal margin of the Pacific Northwest of the United States is a highly dynamic and productive region. Here, we use satellite, high-frequency mooring, and glider estimates of biologically relevant physical and optical variables to characterize seasonal patterns and latitudinal and cross-shore gradients in particle concentrations between the Wa...

Concentrations and compositions of particulate and dissolved organic carbon (POC and DOC, respectively) and aromatic compounds including lignin were analyzed in water samples from 17 rivers flowing into Hudson Bay, northern Canada. These rivers incorporate basins to the south with no permafrost to basins in the north with continuous permafrost, and...

A collection of Commentaries published in the journals of the American Geophysical Union illuminate the deep and growing benefits of research in the Earth and space sciences for humanity.

Concentrations of redox-sensitive elements (S, Mn, Mo, U, Cd, Re) were analyzed in a set of 27 sediment cores collected along the North American Arctic margin (NAAM) from the North Bering Sea to Davis Strait via the Canadian Archipelago. Sedimentary distributions and accumulation rates of the elements were used to evaluate early diagenesis in sedim...

This study is an investigation into the roles of wildfire and changing agricultural practices in controlling the inter-decadal scale trends of suspended sediment production from semi-arid mountainous rivers. In the test case, a decreasing trend in suspended sediment concentrations was found in the lower Salinas River, California between 1967 and 20...

Wildfire greatly impacts the composition and quantity of organic carbon stocks within watersheds. Most methods used to measure the contributions of fire altered organic carbon-i.e. pyrogenic organic carbon (Py-OC) in natural samples are designed to quantify specific fractions such as black carbon or polyaromatic hydrocarbons. In contrast, the CuO o...

Burning conditions and soil normalized values of organic matter, carbon, nitrogen, and individual biomarkers for incubated and non-incubated O and A horizon soils. Treatment = Control (C), Low (L), Moderate (M), High (H); Vanillin (Vl), Acetovanillone (Vn), Vanillic Acid (Vd), Syringealdehyde (Sl), Acetosyringone (Sn), Syringic Acid (Sd), p-Coumari...

Social media and the value of communicating field experiences to the public

Relative to their surface area, continental margins represent some of the largest carbon fluxes in the global ocean, but sparse and sporadic sampling in space and time makes these systems difficult to characterize and quantify. Recognizing the importance of continental margins to the overall North American carbon budget, terrestrial and marine carb...

This study proposes a modification of the current model for abandoned channel fill stratigraphy produced in unidirectional flow river reaches to incorporate seasonal tidal deposition. Evidence supporting this concept came from a study of two consecutive channel abandonment sequences in Ropers Slough of the lower Eel River Estuary in northern Califo...

The Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences covers a wide range of scientific disciplines. JGR-Biogeosciences papers investigate topics that range from the mechanisms and processes responsible for the fluxes and exchange of biogeochemically-relevant materials (e.g., energy, water, carbon, nutrients) across key interfaces (e.g., land-atmosph...

The Lena River in central Siberia is one of the major pathways translocating terrestrial organic matter (OM) from its vast catchment area to the coastal zone of the Laptev Sea and the Arctic Ocean. The permafrost soils of its far south-stretching catchment, which store huge amounts of OM, will most likely respond differently to climate warming and...

This study examines spatial variability in sedimentary organic matter (OM). A total of 25 surface sediment samples were analyzed from two transects across a 0.5-km(2) salt marsh island; one transect traverses relatively old marsh and the other a mix of old and new marsh. We use elevation and distance to creek head as geomorphic proxies and associat...

We present field data and data from the literature to highlight the effects of low-tide rainfall on particulate organic carbon (POC) redistribution in intertidal landscapes. The POC exchanges reported from disparate but related studies were standardized to a storm-induced exchange rate (gPOC m−2 mmRain−1) and compared. Results show that these inter...

Rivers display temporal dependence in suspended sediment – water discharge relationships. Although most work has focused on multi-decadal trends, river sediment behavior often displays sub-decadal scale fluctuations that have received little attention. The objectives of this study were to identify interannual to decadal scale fluctuations in the su...

The compositions and loadings of organic matter in soils and sediments from a diverse range of environments along the Fly River system were determined to investigate carbon transport and sequestration in this region. Soil horizons from highland sites representative of upland sources have organic carbon contents (%OC) that range from 0.3 to 25 wt%,...

Recent studies of estuarine sediment deposits have focused on grain size spectra as a tool to better understand depositional processes, in particular those associated with tidal inlet and basin dynamics. The key to accurate interpretation of lithostratigraphic sequences is establishing clear connections between morphodynamic changes and the resulti...

Previous projects in the Gulf of Lion have investigated the path of terrigenous material in the Rhone deltaic system, the continental shelf and the nearby canyon heads. This study focuses on the slope region of the Gulf of Lion to further describe particulate exchanges with ocean’s interior through submarine canyons and atmospheric inputs. Nine sed...

This volume provides a state-of-the-art summary of biogeochemical dynamics at major river-coastal interfaces for advanced students and researchers. River systems play an important role (via the carbon cycle) in the natural self-regulation of Earth's surface conditions by serving as a major sink for anthropogenic CO2. Approximately 90 percent of glo...

As part of the International Polar Year research program, we conducted a survey of surface marine sediments from box cores along a section extending from the Bering Sea to Davis Strait via the Canadian Archipelago. We used bulk elemental and isotopic compositions, together with biomarkers and principal components analysis, to elucidate the distribu...

Quantifying patterns of sediment accumulation rates (SARs) over the past ~ 125 years on continental margins provides insight into diverse processes spanning the land–ocean boundary. In particular, temporal changes in the export of fluvial sediment can lead to changes in ocean margin SARs, whereas spatial patterns of accumulation reflect the net eff...

[1] We investigated the export of particulate organic matter (POM) to the ocean by two contrasting small, mountainous rivers, the Umpqua and Eel Rivers, by collecting suspended sediment samples over a range of discharges and analyzing them for a variety of constituents, including organic carbon, nitrogen, biomarkers with distinct biochemical source...

The occurrence of two wildfires separated by 31 yr in the chaparral-dominated Arroyo Seco watershed (293 km(2)) of California provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of wildfire on suspended-sediment yield. Here, we compile discharge and suspended-sediment sampling data from before and after the fires and show that the effects of the...

Small, mountainous river systems (SMRS) are now recognized to supply roughly half of the land-derived fine grained sediment and by inference associated bioactive constituents such as organic matter (OM), to the world oceans, yet there is an incomplete understanding of how that material is distributed on continental margins. This knowledge deficit s...

Surface soil and sediment samples collected along a forest-brackish marsh-salt marsh transect in a southeastern U.S. estuary were separated into three different fractions (sand, macro-organic matter, and humus) based on size and density. Elemental, stable carbon isotope, and lignin analyses of these samples reveal important contrasts in the quantit...

The delivery of particulate organic carbon (POC) from rivers to marine sediments is the major long-term sink of CO2 on Earth and a net source of oxygen over millennial time scales. Small mountainous river systems (SMRS) may be responsible for half of the POC delivery to global oceans. The flux of POC in SMRS has been thought to be regulated by hydr...

To better understand the transfer of particulate organic matter (POM) by small mountainous river systems (SMRS) to the ocean, we measured the concentration and composition of suspended particles from the Alsea River, a SMRS in the Oregon Coast Range, over a wide range of discharges that included several floods. All particulate constituents measured...

Lignin components in the in plant litter are commonly assumed to have longer residence times in soil than many other compounds, which are supposedly, more easily degradable. The supposed resistance of lignin compounds to decomposition is generally attributed to the complex chain of biochemical steps required to create footholds in the non-porous st...

Particulate nitrogen is an important but often neglected flux of nitrogen in many watershed studies. As a constituent of sediment, particulate nitrogen is highly dependent on storms and high discharge events for mobilization and transport. We present two case studies on the source and export of particulate nitrogen from two systems during base and...

The delivery of particulate organic carbon (POC) from rivers to marine sediments is the major long-term sink of CO2 on Earth and a net source of oxygen over millennial time scales. Small mountainous river systems may be responsible for half of the POC delivery to global oceans. The flux of POC in SMRS has been thought to be regulated by hydro-geomo...

Climate models have projected a trend of more frequent and more intense rainfall events in many coastal landscapes due to goble climate change. Rainfall kinetic energy and runoff from severe thunderstorms have the ability to do a substantial amount of work on intertidal landscapes. For instance, low tide rainfall events can produce a 2-3 order of m...

Sediments from a variety of depositional environments along the land-ocean continuum, including lakes, fluvial floodplains, estuaries, subaqueous deltas, clinoforms, continental shelves and slopes, have the potential to provide high resolution records of past environmental conditions. Specifically, the distribution and composition of organic matter...

Small mountainous river systems (SMRS) export large amounts of sediment from the continents to the ocean, where they typically accumulate in shelf depocenters. These depositional environments have the potential to provide high resolution records of past conditions in both land and coastal ocean because they sequester OM derived from both terrigenou...

From November 2008 through May 2009, the Po river (Italy) experienced several floods exceeding 5000 m³ s⁻¹. This long series of events ended with a large flood in early May 2009 (~8000 m³ s⁻¹). An event-response sampling was carried out in the Po prodelta in April–May 2009 to characterize the preservation...

The processes controlling the production, transport and ultimate fate of particulate organic carbon (POC) in marine systems play a major role in the global carbon cycle. Direct measurements of POC concentrations in oceanic waters have been used extensively to investigate these processes, but because of the time-intensive effort associated with manu...

In Fall 2000, the Po River (Italy) experienced a 100-yr return period flood that resulted in a 1–25 cm-thick deposit in the adjacent prodelta (10–25 m water depth). In the following years, numerous post-depositional perturbations occurred including bioturbation, reworking by waves with heights exceeding 5 m, as well as periods of extremely high and...

Wildfire can dramatically alter the physical and geochemical conditions of the landscape and modify rates of runoff and erosion. The occurrence of two large wildfires in the Arroyo Seco watershed (293 km2) of California along with water and sediment sampling before and after both fires provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the watershed-scale e...

High rates of sedimentary organic carbon degradation within continental margin sediments combined with abundant supply of reactive Mn-oxides from continental weathering result in a sedimentary environment where Mn is readily solubilized through microbial or abiotic Mn-oxide reduction. Here we examine the consequences of the interplay among the deli...

Rainfall kinetic energy and surface runoff have the ability to do a substantial amount of work on intertidal landscapes, resulting in a 2-3 order of magnitude increase in suspended sediment concentration in subtidal channels. Low tide rainfall can also alter the bulk composition of carbon and other nutrients in surface sediments and in the water co...

Fire causes major changes to organic carbon, converting biological organic materials to pyrogenic-derived organic carbon (Py-OC), including black carbon. Wildfire also dramatically affects hydrological and erosion processes within watersheds, potentially increasing the erosion and discharge of Py-OC as particulate organic carbon (POC). We hypothesi...

Shelf sediments are an important source of iron (Fe) that supports primary productivity in coastal and possibly open ocean ecosystems. The determinants of the shelf Fe flux are not fully understood. We have examined the distribution of sedimentary total (leached by hydrofluoric acid) and reactive (leached by dithionite) Fe in a series of cross-shel...

Direct measurements of particulate organic carbon (POC) concentrations are needed to quantitatively understand the carbon cycle in Eastern Boundary ocean margins. However, in the past these measurements have been somewhat restricted due to the time-intensive nature of the sample collection and manual filtration procedures. To increase temporal and...

Eastern boundary currents are often sites of intense primary production fueled by coastal upwelling. Along these same margins there are often numerous small, mountainous rivers that have high sediment (and POC) yields. In some cases, for example the California Current system, there is a seasonal offset between these two sources of POC, whereby mari...

Outcrops of old strata at the shelf edge resulting from erosive gravity-driven flows have been globally described on continental margins. The reexposure of old strata allows for the reintroduction of aged organic carbon (OC), sequestered in marine sediments for thousands of years, into the modern carbon cycle. This pool of reworked material represe...

From November 2008 through May 2009, the North Italy experienced the highest precipitation period recorded over the last century. As a result, a long series of flood events occurred in the Po river (North Italy). This series of events ended with a large flood in early May 2009. An event-response sampling was carried out in the Po prodelta in April–...

Previous projects in the Gulf of Lion have analyzed the path of terrigenous compounds in the Rhone deltaic system, the continental shelf and the canyon heads. In this study we present results from the HERMES project, focused on the GoL slope to further assess the particulate exchange with the interior ocean. Experimental design consisted in nine se...

In the Gulf of Lions (GoL), dense water overflowing off the shelf occurs seasonally and represents the main mechanism affecting the shelf-slope exchange of particulate organic matter (OM). Most of the dense water export takes place in the south-western GoL and in particular through Cap de Creus (CdC) submarine canyon. Here, benthic instruments were...

Recent research has shown that small, mountainous river systems (SMRS) account for a significant fraction of the global flux of sediment and particulate organic carbon (POC) to the ocean. The enormous number of SMRS precludes intensive studies of the sort conducted on large systems, necessitating development of a conceptual framework that permits c...

The CARIACO Basin Ocean Time-Series (10° 30'N, 64° 40'W) was initiated in November of 1995 as a collaboration between Venezuelan, U.S., and other international scientists to under-stand relationships between hydrography, plankton commu-nity composition and production, microbial activity, terri-genous inputs, particle and other fl uxes, and processe...

The Fly River of Papua New Guinea is one of the largest rivers in the world in terms of water and sediment discharge, but remains poorly studied as a source of organic matter. Using samples collected in January of 2007, our work seeks to understand organic matter sources in the river basin, with widespread measurements of suspended particulate orga...

The discharge of particulate organic carbon (POC) from small mountainous rivers may contribute nearly half of the world's POC to the ocean. However, these smaller rivers have highly variable discharges throughout the year, which in turn affect the content and composition of POC being delivered to coastal margins. Further, POC composition has been s...

Small mountainous rivers display highly variable discharges on both seasonal and event scales. Previous work has shown marked differences in the composition of the particulate load of rivers collected at different stages of the hydrograph, but fewer studies have specifically investigated how the biogeochemical compositions of particulate organic ma...

To understand the role that physical processes play on the biogeochemical cycles of estuaries, we conducted intense field studies of the turbidity maximum region within a partially mixed estuary (Winyah Bay, SC, USA) under contrasting conditions of river discharge, tides and wind. Water samples and hydrographic data were collected at different dept...

Materials collected by sediment traps over a 3-y period and sedimentary horizons from a gravity core covering the last 6000y were used to investigate the effects of climate-related processes such as wind-driven upwelling and regional rainfall on the production, export and burial of particulate organic matter in the Cariaco Basin. A variety of chemi...

One of the most salient features of river-dominated margins is their highly dynamic nature, including the predominant role of stochastic events such as floods. In this vein, an event-response samplings was carried out in the Northern Adriatic (Mediterranean sea) to characterize the non-steady-state organic carbon (OC) cycling in prodelta environmen...

The off-shelf transport of particles in continental margins is responsible for much of the flux of organic matter (OM)and nutrients towards deep-sea ecosystems, playing a key role in the global oceanic biogeochemical cycles. Off-shelf sediment transport mechanism have been well described for many continental margins being triggered by a series of p...

A detailed study of the seabed near the Fly River in the Gulf of Papua has revealed a high degree of heterogeneity in accumulation styles along and across the margin and in the resulting strata. Seven distinct styles are identified with an eighth regime characterized by negligible accumulation on a 100-y timescale. Accumulation Types I and II indic...