Correlation of bulk sedimentary and compound-specific δ13C values indicates minimal pre-aging of n-alkanes in a small tropical watershed

Abstract

Abstract Inherent to sedimentary compound-specific isotopic proxies of paleoecological and paleoclimate change is the assumption that biomarkers are coeval with the surrounding sedimentary matrix. Compound-specific radiocarbon analyses of lake and nearshore marine sediments have indicated a potential offset between the ages of terrestrial biomarkers and their surrounding sediments that could confound efforts to establish strong chronological control for compound-specific isotopic data. We conducted high-resolution compound-specific δ13C analyses of n-alkanes (δ13Calkane) in a well-studied sediment core from Laguna Castilla, Dominican Republic, and compared the results to bulk sedimentary δ13C (δ13Cbulk), fossil pollen, and sediment geochemistry to assess potential ‘pre-aging’ of alkanes in the terrestrial environment prior to deposition. We found significant positive correlations between δ13Cbulk values and δ13Calkane values, indicating little or no temporal lag in the response of δ13Calkane values to vegetation change and thus little or no offset in the age of terrestrially-derived compounds and the organic fraction of the sedimentary matrix. While this study highlights the need for further research into the variables affecting age offsets between proxy data, we propose the comparison of δ13Cbulk and δ13Calkane values as a method to assess potential age offsets between compound-specific and other proxy datasets, particularly in small watersheds with sediment records containing a high proportion of allochthonous organic matter. This method is more available to researchers than obtaining numerous compound-specific radiocarbon analyses, which are costly and not a routine service offered by radiocarbon facilities.