Isotopic composition and speciation of sedimentary nitrogen and carbon in the Okinawa Trough over the past 30 ka
2015
Zheng, Li-wei | Hsiao, Silver Sung-yun | Ding, Xiao-dong | Li, Dawei | Chang, Yuan-pin | Kao, Shuh-ji
Total organic carbon to total nitrogen ratios (C/N) and their isotopic compositions (δ13CTOC and δ15NTN) are oft-applied proxies to discern terrigenous from marine-sourced organics and to unravel ancient environmental information. In high depositional Asian marginal seas, the inclusion of N-bearing minerals in the bulk sediment dilutes or masks signals sought after in δ15N and δ13C analyses, thus leading to incorrect and even contradictory interpretations. We used KOH-KOBr to separate operationally defined total organic matter into oxidizable (labile) and residual fractions for content and isotope measurements. In a sediment core in the Okinawa Trough, significant amounts of carbon and nitrogen existed in the residual phase, in which the C/N ratio was ~9, resembling most documented sedimentary bulk C/N ratios in the China marginal seas. The residual carbon, which was included in operationally defined total organic carbon (TOC), displayed a δ13C range (−22.7 to −18.9‰, mean −20.7‰) similar to the oft-used marine end-member. After removing the interference from the residual fraction, we found that the temporal pattern of δ13CLOC (LOC denotes labile organic carbon) was more variable. The residual nitrogen content was associated with illite, suggesting a terrestrial origin. Additionally, δ15N in the residual fraction likely reflected the climatic controls (e.g., precipitation) on lithogenic source materials. Further studies are required to explore the controlling factors for carbon and nitrogen isotopic speciation and to retrieve the information locked in the residual fraction.
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