Roles of Organic and Black Carbon in Biogeochemistry and Climate-Relevant Environmental Processes

Carbon, in its multiple forms, is a central component of Earth’s geochemical system and a major driver of biogeochemical processes. Organic carbon and black carbon act as both reactive and refractory pools that influence contaminant behavior, nutrient and trace metal cycling, and greenhouse gas fluxes across terrestrial, aquatic, coastal, and engineered systems. Recent advances in analytical techniques have improved characterization and quantification of carbon composition, transformation, and reactivity, yet major knowledge gaps remain regarding the interactions of different carbon fractions and their surroundings. Climate change introduces additional complexity by altering hydrology, temperature, and wildfire occurrence, all processes that influence carbon composition. Understanding these interactions is increasingly important for predicting ecosystem response, contaminant fate, and climate feedback processes under changing environmental conditions. This Research Topic aims to explore the multifaceted roles of carbon—including black carbon, dissolved organic matter, and particulate organic carbon—in environmental systems, with emphasis on their impacts on contaminant transformation, element cycling, and climate-relevant processes. The collection seeks to consolidate research examining how carbon pools mediate chemical processes and reactions, influence microbial activity, stabilize or mobilize contaminants, and regulate biogeochemical feedback such as CO₂ and CH₄ emissions, under changing climate conditions. This Research Topic encourages studies linking instrumental analysis and modeling approaches to advance our understanding of carbon-mediated environmental processes.This Research Topic welcomes contributions that combine analytical, experimental, and modeling approaches to investigate the roles of carbon in environmental systems. Submissions may include field studies, laboratory experiments, fate and transport modeling, methodological developments, and conceptual syntheses addressing the connections between carbon cycling and environmental change.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:· Characterization of carbon forms, composition, and transformation pathways in the environment· Carbon-mediated immobilization, mobilization, and transformation of contaminants· Interactions between carbon pools and microbial metabolism· Impacts of climate change on carbon reactivity, transport, and fluxes· Methods for quantifying and predicting carbon processes, including molecular, spectroscopic, electrochemical, isotopic, and modeling approaches Topic editors: Yu-Ping Chin, Kuo Hong Wong, Danhui Xin, Sasha Wagner Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81977/roles-of-organic-and-black-carbon-in-biogeochemistry-and-climate-relevant-environmental-processes