A study has found that South Korea's mud flats, or "getbol," absorb carbon dioxide equivalent to emissions from 110-thousand vehicles each year.

The study, conducted by a team at Seoul National University, found that South Korea's tidal flats or mud flats absorb an annual 260-thousand tons of carbon dioxide, according to a release from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

The SNU team published the findings of its study in the latest edition of Science of the Total Environment, a weekly scientific journal, the ministry said.

The research team studied the sedimentation of total organic carbons(TOC) and organic carbons in deposits from 20 mud flats in the country between 2017 and 2020.

The team also assessed the amount of absorbed greenhouse gases and blue carbons, which are carbon absorbed by the marine ecosystem, at coastal wetlands through satellite imagery.

The study found some one-point-three million tons of carbon are stored within the country's mud flats, annually absorbing 260-thousand tons of carbon dioxide.

The team pledged to continue their research so that blue carbon from mud flats can be recognized as a carbon reducer as part of efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.