Biomarker assessments of sources and environmental implications of organic matter in sediments from potential cold seep areas of the northeastern South China Sea

DING Ling; ZHAO Meixun; YU Meng; LI Li; HUANG Chi-Yue

doi:10.1007/s13131-017-1068-1

Article Contents

Article Navigation > Acta Oceanologica Sinica > 2017 > 36(10): 8-19

DING Ling, ZHAO Meixun, YU Meng, LI Li, HUANG Chi-Yue. Biomarker assessments of sources and environmental implications of organic matter in sediments from potential cold seep areas of the northeastern South China Sea[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2017, 36(10): 8-19. doi: 10.1007/s13131-017-1068-1

Citation:

DING Ling, ZHAO Meixun, YU Meng, LI Li, HUANG Chi-Yue. Biomarker assessments of sources and environmental implications of organic matter in sediments from potential cold seep areas of the northeastern South China Sea[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2017, 36(10): 8-19. doi: 10.1007/s13131-017-1068-1

Citation:

DING Ling, ZHAO Meixun, YU Meng, LI Li, HUANG Chi-Yue. Biomarker assessments of sources and environmental implications of organic matter in sediments from potential cold seep areas of the northeastern South China Sea[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2017, 36(10): 8-19. doi: 10.1007/s13131-017-1068-1

PDF( 2579 KB)

Biomarker assessments of sources and environmental implications of organic matter in sediments from potential cold seep areas of the northeastern South China Sea

doi: 10.1007/s13131-017-1068-1

1.
Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology(Ocean University of China), Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266100, China;Key Laboratory of Marine Hydrocarbon Resources and Environmental Geology, Ministry of Land and Resources, Qingdao 266071, China
2.
Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology(Ocean University of China), Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266100, China
3.
Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan, China

Received Date: 2016-04-13

Abstract

Abstract

Multi-biomarker indexes were analyzed for two piston cores from potential cold seep areas of the South China Sea off southwestern Taiwan. Total organic carbon (TOC) normalized terrestrial (n-alkanes) and marine (brassicasterol, dinosterol, alkenones and iso-GDGTs) biomarker contents and ratios (TMBR, 1/P_mar-aq, BIT) were used to evaluate the contributions of terrestrial and marine organic matter (TOM and MOM respectively) to the sedimentary organic matter, indicating that MOM dominated the organic sources in Core MD052911 and the sedimentary organic matter in Core ORI-860-22 was mainly derived from terrestrial inputs, and different morphologies were the likely reason for TOM percentage differences. BIT results suggested that river-transported terrestrial soil organic matter was not a major source of TOM of sedimentary organic matter around these settings. Diagnostic biomarkers for methane-oxidizing archaea (MOA) were only detected in one sample at 172 cm depth of Core ORI-860-22, with abnormally high iso-GDGTs content and Methane Index (MI) value (0.94). These results indicated high anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) activities at or around 172 cm in Core ORI-860-22. However in Core MD052911, MOA biomarkers were not detected and MI values were lower (0.19-0.38), indicated insignificant contributions of iso-GDGTs from methanotrophic archaea and the absence of significant AOM activities. Biomarker results thus indicated that the discontinuous upward methane seepage and insufficient methane flux could not induce high AOM activities in our sampling sites. In addition, the different patterns of TEX₈₆ and U₃₇^K' temperature in two cores suggested that AOM activities affected TEX₈₆ temperature estimates with lower values in Core ORI-860-22, but not significantly on TEX₈₆ temperature estimates in Core MD052911.
- biomarkers,
- organic matter sources,
- TOM,
- MOM,
- anaerobic oxidation of methane,
- South China Sea

FullText(HTML)

References(56)

References

Aquilina A, Knab N J, Knittel K, et al. 2010. Biomarker indicators for anaerobic oxidizers of methane in brackish-marine sediments with diffusive methane fluxes. Org Geochem, 41(4):414-426

Bian Liangqiao, Hinrichs K U, Xie Tianmin, et al. 2001. Algal and archaeal polyisoprenoids in a recent marine sediment:molecular isotopic evidence for anaerobic oxidation of methane. Geochem Geophys Geosyst, 2(1), doi: 10.1029/2000GC000112

Biddle J F, Lipp J S, Lever M A, et al. 2006. Heterotrophic Archaea dominate sedimentary subsurface ecosystems off Peru. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 103(10):3846-3851

Blumenberg M, Seifert R, Reitner J, et al. 2004. Membrane lipid patterns typify distinct anaerobic methanotrophic consortia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 101(30):11111-11116

Boetius A, Ravenschlag K, Schubert C J, et al. 2000. A marine microbial consortium apparently mediating anaerobic oxidation of methane. Nature, 407(6804):623-626

Boon J J, Rijpstra W I C, de Lange F, et al. 1979. Black sea sterol-a molecular fossil for dinoflagellate blooms. Nature, 277(5692):125-127

Bouloubassi I, Aloisi G, Pancost R D, et al. 2006. Archaeal and bacterial lipids in authigenic carbonate crusts from eastern Mediterranean mud volcanoes. Org Geochem, 37(4):484-500

Chen Zhong, Huang C Y, Zhao Meixun, et al. 2011. Characteristics and possible origin of native aluminum in cold seep sediments from the northeastern South China Sea. J Asian Earth Sci, 40(1):363-370

Chi W C, Reed D L, Liu C S, et al. 1998. Distribution of the bottom-simulating reflector in the offshore Taiwan collision zone. Terrestr Atmos Ocean Sci, 9(4):779-794

Chuang P C, Yang T F, Lin S, et al. 2006. Extremely high methane concentration in bottom water and cored sediments from offshore southwestern Taiwan. Terrestr Atmos Ocean Sci, 17(4):903-920

Dadson S J, Hovius N, Chen H, et al. 2003. Links between erosion, runoff variability and seismicity in the Taiwan orogen. Nature, 426(6967):648-651

Elvert M, Hopmans E C, Treude T, et al. 2005. Spatial variations of methanotrophic consortia at cold methane seeps:implications from a high-resolution molecular and isotopic approach. Geobiology, 3(3):195-209

Elvert M, Suess E, Whiticar M J. 1999. Anaerobic methane oxidation associated with marine gas hydrates:superlight C-isotopes from saturated and unsaturated C₂₀ and C₂₅ irregular isoprenoids. Naturwissenschaften, 86(6):295-300

Guan Hongxiang, Sun Yongge, Zhu Xiaowei, et al. 2013. Factors controlling the types of microbial consortia in cold-seep environments:a molecular and isotopic investigation of authigenic carbonates from the South China Sea. Chem Geol, 354:55-64

Hinrichs K U, Summons R E, Orphan V, et al. 2000. Molecular and isotopic analysis of anaerobic methane-oxidizing communities in marine sediments. Org Geochem, 31(12):1685-1701

Hoehler T M, Alperin M J, Albert D B, et al. 1994. Field and laboratory studies of methane oxidation in an anoxic marine sediment:evidence for a methanogen-sulfate reducer consortium. Global Biogeochem Cycles, 8(4):451-463

Hopmans E C, Schouten S, Pancost R D, et al. 2000. Analysis of intact tetraether lipids in archaeal cell material and sediments by high performance liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom, 14(7):585-589

Hopmans E C, Weijers J W H, Schefuß E, et al. 2004. A novel proxy for terrestrial organic matter in sediments based on branched and isoprenoid tetraether lipids. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 224(1-2):107-116

Huang C Y, Chien C W, Zhao Meixun, et al. 2006a. Geological investigations of active cold seeps in the syn-collision accretionary prism Kaoping slope off SW Taiwan. Terrestr Atmos Ocean Sci, 17(4):679-702

Huang C Y, Yuan P B, Tsao S J. 2006b. Temporal and spatial records of active arc-continent collision in Taiwan:a synthesis. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 118(3-4):274-288

Kaneko M, Naraoka H, Takano Y, et al. 2013. Distribution and isotopic signatures of archaeal lipid biomarkers associated with gas hydrate occurrences on the northern Cascadia Margin. Chem Geol, 343:76-84

Kim J H, Schouten S, Hopmans E C, et al. 2008. Global sediment core-top calibration of the TEX₈₆ paleothermometer in the ocean. Geoch Cosmochim Acta, 72(4):1154-1173

Lee D H, Kim J H, Bahk J J, et al. 2013. Geochemical signature related to lipid biomarkers of ANMEs in gas hydrate-bearing sediments in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea (Korea). Mar Pet Geol, 47:125-135

Lin S, Hsieh W C, Lim Y C, et al. 2006. Methane migration and its influence on sulfate reduction in the Good Weather Ridge region, South China Sea continental margin sediments. Terrestr Atmos Ocean Sci, 17(4):883-902

Liu C S, Deffontaines B, Lu C Y, et al. 2004. Deformation patterns of an accretionary wedge in the transition zone from subduction to collision offshore southwestern Taiwan. Mar Geophys Res, 25(1-2):123-137

Liu C S, Schnürle P, Wang Y S, et al. 2006. Distribution and characters of gas hydrate offshore of southwestern Taiwan. Terrestr Atmos Ocean Sci, 17(4):615-644

Marlowe I T, Brassell S C, Eglinton G, et al. 1984. Long chain unsaturated ketones and esters in living algae and marine sediments. Org Geochem, 6:135-141

Müller P J, Kirst G, Ruhland G, et al. 1998. Calibration of the alkenone paleotemperature index U₃₇^K' based on core-tops from the eastern South Atlantic and the global ocean (60°N-60°S). Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 62(10):1757-1772

Orphan V J, Hinrichs K U, Ussler W Ⅲ, et al. 2001. Comparative analysis of methane-oxidizing archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria in anoxic marine sediments. Appl Environ Microbiol, 67(4):1922-1934

Pancost R D, Damste J S S. 2003. Carbon isotopic compositions of prokaryotic lipids as tracers of carbon cycling in diverse settings. Chem Geol, 195(1-4):29-58

Pancost R D, Hopmans E C, Damsté J S S. 2001. Archaeal lipids in Mediterranean cold seeps:molecular proxies for anaerobic methane oxidation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 65(10):1611-1627

Pape T, Blumenberg M, Seifert R, et al. 2005. Lipid geochemistry of methane-seep-related Black Sea carbonates. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 227(1-3):31-47

Parkes R J, Cragg B A, Banning N, et al. 2007. Biogeochemistry and biodiversity of methane cycling in subsurface marine sediments (Skagerrak, Denmark). Environ Microbiol, 9(5):1146-1161

Reeburgh W S, Ward B B, Whalen S C, et al. 1991. Black Sea methane geochemistry. Deep Sea Res Part A:Oceanogr Res Papers, 38(S2):S1189-S1210

Reeburgh W S. 2007. Oceanic methane biogeochemistry. Chem Rev, 107(2):486-513

Schouten S, Hopmans E C, Schefuß E, et al. 2002. Distributional variations in marine crenarchaeotal membrane lipids:a new tool for reconstructing ancient sea water temperatures?. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 204(1-2):265-274

Schouten S, Hopmans E C, Sinninghe Damsté J S. 2013. The organic geochemistry of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether lipids:a review. Org Geochem, 54:19-61

Sikes E L, Uhle M E, Nodder S D, et al. 2009. Sources of organic matter in a coastal marine environment:evidence from n-alkanes and their δ¹³C distributions in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. Mar Chem, 113(3-4):149-163

Sinninghe Damsté J S, Rijpstra W I C, Hopmans E C, et al. 2002a. Distribution of membrane lipids of planktonic Crenarchaeota in the Arabian Sea. Appl Environ Microbiol, 68(6):2997-3002

Sinninghe Damsté J S, Schouten S, Hopmans E C, et al. 2002b. Crenarchaeol:the characteristic core glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether membrane lipid of cosmopolitan pelagic crenarchaeota. J Lipid Res, 43(10):1641-1651

Smith R W, Bianchi T S, Li Xinxin. 2012. A re-evaluation of the use of branched GDGTs as terrestrial biomarkers:implications for the BIT Index. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 80:14-29

Stadnitskaia A, Bouloubassi I, Elvert M, et al. 2008. Extended hydroxyarchaeol, a novel lipid biomarker for anaerobic methanotrophy in cold seepage habitats. Org Geochem, 39(8):1007-1014

Versteegh G J M, Zonneveld K A F. 2002. Use of selective degradation to separate preservation from productivity. Geology, 30(7):615-618

Volkman J K, Barrett S M, Blackburn S I, et al. 1998. Microalgal biomarkers:a review of recent research developments. Org Geochem, 29(5-7):1163-1179

Wegener G, Boetius A. 2009. An experimental study on short-term changes in the anaerobic oxidation of methane in response to varying methane and sulfate fluxes. Biogeosciences, 6(5):867-876

Wei Yuli, Wang Peng, Zhao Meixun, et al. 2014. Lipid and DNA evidence of dominance of planktonic archaea preserved in sediments of the South China Sea:insight for application of the TEX₈₆ proxy in an unstable marine sediment environment. Geomicrobiol J, 31(4):360-369

Weijers J W H, Lim K L H, Aquilina A, et al. 2011. Biogeochemical controls on glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether lipid distributions in sediments characterized by diffusive methane flux. Geochem Geophys Geosyst, 12(10):Q10010

Weijers J W H, Schouten S, Schefuß E, et al. 2009. Disentangling marine, soil and plant organic carbon contributions to continental margin sediments:a multi-proxy approach in a 20,000 year sediment record from the Congo deep-sea fan. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 73(1):119-132

Weijers J W H, Schouten S, Spaargaren O C, et al. 2006. Occurrence and distribution of tetraether membrane lipids in soils:implications for the use of the TEX₈₆ proxy and the BIT index. Org Geochem, 37(12):1680-1693

Xing Lei, Zhang Hailong, Yuan Zineng, et al. 2011. Terrestrial and marine biomarker estimates of organic matter sources and distributions in surface sediments from the East China Sea shelf. Cont Shelf Res, 31(10):1106-1115

Xing Lei, Zhao Meixun, Gao Wenxian, et al. 2014. Multiple proxy estimates of source and spatial variation in organic matter in surface sediments from the southern Yellow Sea. Org Geochem, 76:72-81

Yu Xiaoguo, Han Xiqiu, Li Hongliang, et al. 2008. Biomarkers and carbon isotope composition of anaerobic oxidation of methane in sediments and carbonates of northeastern part of Dongsha, South China Sea. Haiyang Xuebao (in Chinese), 30(3):77-84

Zhang C L, Li Yiliang, Wall J D, et al. 2002. Lipid and carbon isotopic evidence of methane-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria in association with gas hydrates from the Gulf of Mexico. Geology, 30(3):239-242

Zhang Yige, Zhang Chuanlun, Liu Xiaolei, et al. 2011. Methane Index:a tetraether archaeal lipid biomarker indicator for detecting the instability of marine gas hydrates. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 307(3-4):525-534

Zhao Meixun, Dupont L, Eglinton G, et al. 2003. n-Alkane and pollen reconstruction of terrestrial climate and vegetation for N.W. Africa over the last 160 kyr. Org Geochemis, 34(1):131-143

Zhu Chun, Weijers J W H, Wagner T, et al. 2011. Sources and distributions of tetraether lipids in surface sediments across a large river-dominated continental margin. Org Geochem, 42(4):376-386

Relative Articles

Supplements(0)

Cited By

Proportional views