Paleoenvironmental implications of Holocene long-chain <i>n</i>-alkanes on the northern Bering Sea Slope

ZHANG Haifeng; WANG Rujian; XIAO Wenshen

doi:10.1007/s13131-017-1032-0

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Article Navigation > Acta Oceanologica Sinica > 2017 > 36(8): 137-145

ZHANG Haifeng, WANG Rujian, XIAO Wenshen. Paleoenvironmental implications of Holocene long-chain n-alkanes on the northern Bering Sea Slope[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2017, 36(8): 137-145. doi: 10.1007/s13131-017-1032-0

Citation:

ZHANG Haifeng, WANG Rujian, XIAO Wenshen. Paleoenvironmental implications of Holocene long-chain n-alkanes on the northern Bering Sea Slope[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2017, 36(8): 137-145. doi: 10.1007/s13131-017-1032-0

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Paleoenvironmental implications of Holocene long-chain n-alkanes on the northern Bering Sea Slope

doi: 10.1007/s13131-017-1032-0

1.
Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem and Biogeochemistry, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou 310012, China;State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
2.
State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

Received Date: 2016-10-14

Abstract

Abstract

The records of high-resolution terrestrial biological markers (biomarkers) from Core B2-9 from the northern Bering Sea Slope over the last 9.6 ka BP were presented in the study. Variations in input of terrestrial long-chain n-alkanes (referred to as n-alkanes) and vegetation structure in their source regions were investigated. The results show that the nC₂₇ is the main carbon peak and has the greatest contribution rate of the total n-alkane content; this might be related to the abundance of woody plants and their spatial distribution in the source region. nC₂₃ is another n-alkane having a relatively high content; this was mainly derived from submerged plants widespread along the coastal areas in the northern hemisphere. Total n-alkane content dropped quickly at ca. 7.8 ka BP, ca. 6.7 ka BP and ca. 5.4 ka BP, and was followed by four relatively stable stages mostly controlled by sea-level rise, climate change and vegetation distribution in the source region. Variation in carbon preference index (CPI) indicates that the n-alkanes primarily originated from higher land plants, and the average chain length (ACL) and nC₃₁/nC₂₇ ratio reveal the relatively stable presence of woody/herbaceous plants during the Holocene, and dominate woody plants in most of the time. Simultaneous variation in total n-alkane content, nC₂₇ content and its contribution, CPI, ACL and nC₃₁/nC₂₇ ratio over several short periods suggest that the growth rate of the woody plant n-alkane contribution was lower than that of herbaceous plants and fossil n-alkanes under the particular climatic conditions of the source region.
- Bering Sea,
- terrestrial input,
- long-chain n-alkanes,
- vegetation structure,
- Holocene

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References(61)

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