<p>To answer your question requires some assumptions. Firstly in what is meant by kg Carbon/m2? m2 is a measure of area, not volume. So you might quote carbon deposition in kg/m2/year - and that wouldn't meaningfully translate as a percentage. Or you need information on the depth of the soil that will hold the carbon. There are <a href="https://databasin.org/datasets/a4cb6d367eae4e52a08902874f8bfedf/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">global maps</a> that use kg Carbon/m2 as a unit, with an assumption that it is in the top metre. So 7 kg Carbon/m2 would be equivalent to 7 kg Carbon/m3.  To convert that to a percentage you need information on the density of soils. Typical densities are 1.1 to 1.6 g/cm2, so assuming a density of 1.35 g/cm2 our 7 kg Carbon/m3 would be 0.7% Carbon. The calculation is complicated by the fact that actual soil density varies with moisture content and with organic matter - high Carbon soils are likely to have lower bulk densities, and so you shouldn't really use one density value for calculating a conversion.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-22T08:44:27.383Z
2022-09-23T08:30:07.627Z
2022-09-23T08:30:07.627Z
Andy M
<p>I need to convert organic carbon provided in kg C/m2 to percent.
Any help would be appreciated.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-21T13:28:45.517Z
Percent of what?
Spencer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-21T20:57:04.853Z
I mean to convert it to % without uint
Pooran khedri
<sedimentology><carbon><biogeochemistry>
How to convert Carbon stored in surface sediments (kg/m2) to percent?
Pooran khedri
# How to convert Carbon stored in surface sediments (kg/m2) to percent?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-09-21)

I need to convert organic carbon provided in kg C/m2 to percent.
Any help would be appreciated.

**Tags:** sedimentology, carbon, biogeochemistry

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Percent of what?  
> **username_0**: I mean to convert it to % without uint  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-09-22. Score: 2

To answer your question requires some assumptions. Firstly in what is meant by kg Carbon/m2? m2 is a measure of area, not volume. So you might quote carbon deposition in kg/m2/year - and that wouldn't meaningfully translate as a percentage. Or you need information on the depth of the soil that will hold the carbon. There are [global maps](https://databasin.org/datasets/a4cb6d367eae4e52a08902874f8bfedf/) that use kg Carbon/m2 as a unit, with an assumption that it is in the top metre. So 7 kg Carbon/m2 would be equivalent to 7 kg Carbon/m3. To convert that to a percentage you need information on the density of soils. Typical densities are 1.1 to 1.6 g/cm2, so assuming a density of 1.35 g/cm2 our 7 kg Carbon/m3 would be 0.7% Carbon. The calculation is complicated by the fact that actual soil density varies with moisture content and with organic matter - high Carbon soils are likely to have lower bulk densities, and so you shouldn't really use one density value for calculating a conversion.


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