A series of laboratory incubation experiments were conducted to examine the decomposition of algal organic matter in clay-enriched marine sediment under oxic and anoxic conditions.During the 245-day incubation period,changes in the concentrations of TOC,major algal fatty acid components (14:0,16:0,16:1,18:1 and 20:5),and n-alkanes (C16-C23) were quantified in the samples.Our results indicate that the organic matters were degraded more rapidly in oxic than anoxic conditions.Adsorption of fatty acids onto clay minerals was a rapid and reversible process.Using a simple G model,we calculated the decomposition rate constants for TOC,n-alkanes and fatty acids which ranged from 0.017-0.024 d-1,0.049-0.103 d-1 and 0.011 to 0.069 d-1,respectively.Algal organic matter degraded in two stages characterized by a fast and a slow degradation processes.The addition of clay minerals montmorillonite and kaolinite to the sediments showed significant influence affecting the decomposition processes of algal TOC and fatty acids by adsorption and incorporation of the compounds with clay particles.Adsorption/association of fatty acids by clay minerals was rapid but appeared to be a slow reversible process.In addition to the sediment redox and clay influence,the structure of the compounds also played important roles in affecting their degradation dynamic in sediments.
Concentrations and carbon isotopic(14C,13C) compositions of black carbon(BC) were measured for three sediment cores collected from the Changjiang River estuary and the shelf of the East China Sea. BC concentrations ranged from 0.02 to 0.14 mg/g(dry weight) ,and accounted for 5% to 26% of the sedimentary total organic carbon(TOC) pool. Among the three sediment cores collected at each site,sediment from the Changjiang River estuary had relatively high BC contents compared with the sedi-ments from the East China Sea shelf,suggesting that the Changjiang River discharge played an im-portant role in the delivery of BC to the coastal region. Radiocarbon measurements indicate that the ages of BC are in the range of 6910 to 12250 years old B.P.(before present) ,that is in general,3700 to 9000 years older than the 14C ages of TOC in the sediments. These variable radiocarbon ages suggest that the BC preserved in the sediments was derived from the products of both biomass fire and fossil fuel combustion,as well as from ancient rock weathering. Based on an isotopic mass balance model,we calculated that fossil fuel combustion contributed most(60%―80%) of the BC preserved in these sediments and varied with depth and locations. The deposition and burial of this "slow-cycling" BC in the sediments of the East China Sea shelf represent a significant pool of carbon sink and could greatly influence carbon cycling in the region.
Accumulation and distributions of aliphatic and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals were measured in tissues of the clam Ruditapes philippinarum collected from 5 sites in Jiaozhou Bay,Qingdao,China.The concentrations of total aliphatic hydrocarbon and PAHs ranged from 570 to 2 574 ng/gdw (gram dry weight) and from 276 to 939 ng/gdw,in the most and least polluted sites,respectively.The bio-accumulation of hydrocarbons and PAHs in the clams appeared to be selective.Aliphatic hydrocarbons were predominantly represented by short chain (
This study investigates the distribution of black carbon (BC) and its correlation with total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ΣPAH) in the surface sediments of China’s marginal seas. BC content ranges from <0.10 to 2.45 mg/g dw (grams dry weight) in the sediments studied, and varied among the different coastal regions. The Bohai Bay sediments had the highest BC contents (average 2.18 mg/g dw), which comprises a significant fraction (27%–41%) of the total organic carbon (TOC) preserved in the sediments. In comparison, BC in the surface sediments of the North Yellow Sea, Jiaozhou Bay, East China Sea and the South China Sea is less abundant and accounted for an average of 6%, 8%, 14% and 5%, respectively, of the sedimentary organic carbon pool. The concentration of ΣPAH in the surface sediments ranges from 41 to 3 667 ng/g dw and showed large spatial variations among the sampling sites of different costal regions. The Bohai Bay has the highest ΣPAH values, ranging from 79 to 3 667 ng/g dw. This reflects the high anthropogenically contaminated nature of the sediments in the bay. BC is positively correlated to TOC but a strong correlation is not found between BC and ΣPAH in the surface sediments studied, suggesting that BC and PAHs preserved in the sediments are derived from different sources and controlled by different biogeochemical processes. Our study suggests that the abundance of BC preserved in the sediments could represent a significant sink pool of carbon cycling in China’s marginal seas.
