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Compound-Specific Radiocarbon Analyses of Phospholipid Fatty Acids and N-Alkanes in Ocean Sediments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Ellen R M Druffel ,
Dachun Zhang ,
Xiaomei Xu ,
Lori A Ziolkowski ,
John R Southon ,
Guaciara M dos Santos  and
Susan E Trumbore
Ellen R M Druffel*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth System Science and Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Laboratory, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-3100, USA
Dachun Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Earth System Science and Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Laboratory, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-3100, USA
Xiaomei Xu
Affiliation:
Department of Earth System Science and Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Laboratory, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-3100, USA
Lori A Ziolkowski
Affiliation:
Department of Earth System Science and Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Laboratory, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-3100, USA
John R Southon
Affiliation:
Department of Earth System Science and Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Laboratory, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-3100, USA
Guaciara M dos Santos
Affiliation:
Department of Earth System Science and Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Laboratory, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-3100, USA
Susan E Trumbore
Affiliation:
Department of Earth System Science and Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Laboratory, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-3100, USA
*
Corresponding author. Email: edruffel@uci.edu.
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Abstract

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We report compound-specific radiocarbon analyses of organic matter in ocean sediments from the northeast Pacific Ocean. Chemical extractions and a preparative capillary gas chromatograph (PCGC) were used to isolate phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) and n-alkanes from 3 cores collected off the coast of California, USA. Mass of samples for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C analysis ranged from 13–100 μg C. PLFA extracted from anaerobic sediments in the Santa Barbara Basin (595 m depth) had modern Δ14C values (–20 to +54‰), indicating bacterial utilization of surface-produced, post-bomb organic matter. Lower Δ14C values were obtained for n-alkanes and PLFA from coast (92 m depth) and continental slope (1866 m) sediments, which reflect sources of old organic matter and bioturbation. We present a brief analysis of the blank carbon introduced to samples during chemical processing and PCGC isolation.

Type
Marine
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 52 , Issue 3: 20th Int. Radiocarbon Conference Proceedings , 2010 , pp. 1215 - 1223
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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