The temporal dynamics of terrestrial organic matter transfer to the oceans : initial assessment and application
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2007 This thesis employs compound-specific stable carbon and radiocarbon isotopic analysis of organic biomarkers...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Thesis |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
2007
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1736 |
id |
ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/1736 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/1736 2023-05-15T15:15:47+02:00 The temporal dynamics of terrestrial organic matter transfer to the oceans : initial assessment and application Drenzek, Nicholas J. Cariaco Basin Saanich Inlet, British Columbia 2007-06 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1736 en_US eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WHOI Theses https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1736 doi:10.1575/1912/1736 doi:10.1575/1912/1736 Carbon Coastal sediments New Horizon (Ship) Cruise Hermano Gines (Ship) Cruise Clifford A. Barnes (Ship) Cruise Thesis 2007 ftwhoas https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/1736 2022-05-28T22:57:19Z Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2007 This thesis employs compound-specific stable carbon and radiocarbon isotopic analysis of organic biomarkers to (a) resolve petrogenic from pre-aged vascular plant organic carbon (OC) in continental margin sediments, (b) investigate the underlying mechanisms controlling the anomalously old ages that are often observed for the terrestrial component of sedimentary OC, and (c) address the associated consequences for biomarker-based climate reconstructions. In Chapters 2 and 3, coupled molecular isotope mass balances demonstrate that the amount of petrogenic OC residing on the Beaufort Shelf (Arctic Ocean) and the Eel River Margin (coastal California) has been previously overestimated due to the presence of significantly ‘pre-aged’ terrestrial OC. However, even though the contribution of organic matter emanating from sedimentary rocks may be smaller, these results reinforce the emerging notion that it is not completely oxidized during weathering and subsequent seaward transport. In Chapter 4, comparison of the down-core radiocarbon profiles for certain vascular plant biomarkers extracted from Cariaco Basin (Caribbean Sea) and Saanich Inlet (coastal British Columbia) sediments with the radiocarbon evolution of atmospheric carbon dioxide reveals that the vast majority of the terrestrial OC experiences multi-millennial residence times on land prior to entering the sea. Most of the remaining inventory is deposited in sediments within one or two decades, providing direct evidence that very little terrestrial organic matter is rapidly transferred to the marine environment. With this in mind, the striking modulation in the signal amplitude of a biomarker-based tropical paleoaridity record presented in Chapter 5 was instead used to evaluate the role of low versus high latitude forcing in abrupt paleoclimate oscillations during the ... Thesis Arctic Arctic Ocean Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) Arctic Arctic Ocean Beaufort Shelf ENVELOPE(-142.500,-142.500,70.000,70.000) Clifford ENVELOPE(-63.167,-63.167,-70.467,-70.467) Woods Hole, MA |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) |
op_collection_id |
ftwhoas |
language |
English |
topic |
Carbon Coastal sediments New Horizon (Ship) Cruise Hermano Gines (Ship) Cruise Clifford A. Barnes (Ship) Cruise |
spellingShingle |
Carbon Coastal sediments New Horizon (Ship) Cruise Hermano Gines (Ship) Cruise Clifford A. Barnes (Ship) Cruise Drenzek, Nicholas J. The temporal dynamics of terrestrial organic matter transfer to the oceans : initial assessment and application |
topic_facet |
Carbon Coastal sediments New Horizon (Ship) Cruise Hermano Gines (Ship) Cruise Clifford A. Barnes (Ship) Cruise |
description |
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2007 This thesis employs compound-specific stable carbon and radiocarbon isotopic analysis of organic biomarkers to (a) resolve petrogenic from pre-aged vascular plant organic carbon (OC) in continental margin sediments, (b) investigate the underlying mechanisms controlling the anomalously old ages that are often observed for the terrestrial component of sedimentary OC, and (c) address the associated consequences for biomarker-based climate reconstructions. In Chapters 2 and 3, coupled molecular isotope mass balances demonstrate that the amount of petrogenic OC residing on the Beaufort Shelf (Arctic Ocean) and the Eel River Margin (coastal California) has been previously overestimated due to the presence of significantly ‘pre-aged’ terrestrial OC. However, even though the contribution of organic matter emanating from sedimentary rocks may be smaller, these results reinforce the emerging notion that it is not completely oxidized during weathering and subsequent seaward transport. In Chapter 4, comparison of the down-core radiocarbon profiles for certain vascular plant biomarkers extracted from Cariaco Basin (Caribbean Sea) and Saanich Inlet (coastal British Columbia) sediments with the radiocarbon evolution of atmospheric carbon dioxide reveals that the vast majority of the terrestrial OC experiences multi-millennial residence times on land prior to entering the sea. Most of the remaining inventory is deposited in sediments within one or two decades, providing direct evidence that very little terrestrial organic matter is rapidly transferred to the marine environment. With this in mind, the striking modulation in the signal amplitude of a biomarker-based tropical paleoaridity record presented in Chapter 5 was instead used to evaluate the role of low versus high latitude forcing in abrupt paleoclimate oscillations during the ... |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Drenzek, Nicholas J. |
author_facet |
Drenzek, Nicholas J. |
author_sort |
Drenzek, Nicholas J. |
title |
The temporal dynamics of terrestrial organic matter transfer to the oceans : initial assessment and application |
title_short |
The temporal dynamics of terrestrial organic matter transfer to the oceans : initial assessment and application |
title_full |
The temporal dynamics of terrestrial organic matter transfer to the oceans : initial assessment and application |
title_fullStr |
The temporal dynamics of terrestrial organic matter transfer to the oceans : initial assessment and application |
title_full_unstemmed |
The temporal dynamics of terrestrial organic matter transfer to the oceans : initial assessment and application |
title_sort |
temporal dynamics of terrestrial organic matter transfer to the oceans : initial assessment and application |
publisher |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1736 |
op_coverage |
Cariaco Basin Saanich Inlet, British Columbia |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-142.500,-142.500,70.000,70.000) ENVELOPE(-63.167,-63.167,-70.467,-70.467) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Beaufort Shelf Clifford |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Beaufort Shelf Clifford |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
op_source |
doi:10.1575/1912/1736 |
op_relation |
WHOI Theses https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1736 doi:10.1575/1912/1736 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/1736 |
op_publisher_place |
Woods Hole, MA |
_version_ |
1766346127289876480 |