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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-3576</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Drivers of early diagenesis in sediments surrounding offshore wind foundations; a coupled data-modelling approach</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>De Borger</surname>
<given-names>Emil</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4905-1637</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Soetaert</surname>
<given-names>Karline</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Cepeda Gamella</surname>
<given-names>Esther</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Capet</surname>
<given-names>Arthur</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5939-3836</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Vanaverbeke</surname>
<given-names>Jan</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Braeckman</surname>
<given-names>Ulrike</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7558-6363</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ), Estuarine and Delta Systems, Korringaweg 7, Yerseke 4401NT, The Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Ghent University, Marine Biology research group, Building S8 - De Sterre, Krijgslaan 297, 9000 Ghent, Belgium</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Vautierstraat 29, Brussels 1000, Belgium</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Ghent University, Isotope Bioscience laboratory – ISOFYS, Department of green Chemistry and Technology, Coupure links 653, Ghent 9000, Belgium</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>Université Libre de Bruxelles, Biogeochemistry and modelling of the Earth System, Campus du Solbosch, Avenue F.F. Roosevelt 50, Brussels 1050, Belgium</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>31</day>
<month>07</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>36</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Emil De Borger et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3576/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3576/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3576/egusphere-2026-3576.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3576/egusphere-2026-3576.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Permeable sandy sediments are abundant on continental shelves, where they are increasingly recognized as major sites of intense organic matter mineralization. In offshore wind farms (OWFs), turbine-induced changes in hydrodynamics and organic matter inputs may modify these dynamic environments, yet the quantitative impact remains poorly constrained. Here, we present PermeableDia, a two-dimensional reactive transport model that explicitly resolves advective flows and apply it to data collected from sediments along a distance gradient (7&lt;span&gt;&amp;ndash;&lt;/span&gt;75 m) from the scour protection layer (SPL) of an offshore wind turbine in the Belgian Part of the North Sea across three seasons. The model adequately reproduces observed organic carbon and porewater nutrient profiles and reveals pronounced spatial gradients in carbon mineralization. Total mineralization rates were highest nearest to the turbine (up to ~176 mmol C m&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;minus;&lt;/span&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; d&lt;sup&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;minus;&lt;/span&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;) and declined with distance. Oxic pathways dominated mineralization (58&lt;span&gt;&amp;ndash;&lt;/span&gt;92 % of total), reflecting efficient oxygen supply via advective exchange, while anoxic mineralization increased near the turbine (up to 41 %) consistent with enhanced organic matter loading. Denitrification contributed only a minor fraction to total mineralization (1&amp;ndash;4.5 %). By constraining the model with in situ observations, this data-driven approach enables the quantification of mineralization pathways in permeable sediments where direct rate measurements are challenging. The dynamic nature of mineralization processes in advective conditions indicates that observed biogeochemical impacts of offshore wind, such as increased carbon storage in surface sediments, are likely transient.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="36"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Belgian Federal Science Policy Office</funding-source>
<award-id>B2 212/P1 OUTFLOW</award-id>
<award-id>RV/21/CANOE</award-id>
<award-id>B2 212/P1 TANGO</award-id>
<award-id>Prf-2019-008 RECAP</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek</funding-source>
<award-id>I001621N</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
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