Dataset: Blue carbon dynamics in seagrass and salt marshes: spatio-temporal variability and total carbon stocks

This dataset contains sediment organic carbon (%SOC) for salt marsh and intertidal seagrass, Zostera capensis, in the Olifants River Estuary on the west coast of South Africa. A total number of 81 sediment cores were collected in May 2023, across three sampling sites, along triplicate transects ~10 m in length (~50 m apart) to depths between 20 and 50 cm. A Russian peat corer (~50 cm length, 5 cm diameter) was used to collect cores. Included in this dataset is the %SOC for 27 cores to a depth of 50 cm collected in May 2024, at one of the sampling sites (upper site) from the previous sampling effort. All samples were acidified with 1N hydrochloric acid and rinsed to remove the inorganic carbon. The organic carbon content was quantified using an Elementar Vario EL Cube CHNS analyzer.