Organic matter preservation on continental slopes: importance of mineralogy and surface area

Abstract

Theoretical considerations, calculations, and data reported by Keil et al. (1994a) were used to assess the recent hypotheses that mineral surface roughness controls the specific surface area of continental margin sediments and that the matrix-linked organic carbon content of continental margin sediments occurs as a monolayer or ‘monolayer-equivalent’ coating of organic compounds on the surfaces of detrital minerals and other detrital nonorganic grains (Mayer, 1994). Results of our analysis indicate that it is not the surface roughness of the terrigenous detrital framework grains that controls the specific surface area of most continental margin sediments, even in the sand and silt fractions, but rather the presence of nonspherical, high surface area-to-volume particles, primarily clays but also oxy-hydroxides and ultra-structured nonorganic bioclasts such as diatom frustules. Analysis of the mineralogy, organic carbon content, surface area, and in situ microfabric of continental margin sediments off California in the Mendocino and San Luis Obispo areas and off the state of Washington indicate a strong correlation between the amount of matrix-linked organic matter present and the suite of clay minerals. Data indicate that organic carbon appears to be preferentially sequestered in smectite-rich sediments compared to those whose clay fractions are dominated by chlorite. We suggest that this association is a function of differences in the site density and chemistry of the clays and differences in their flocculation behavior. Our data also indicate that organic carbon preservation on the three California transects, all of which have a suboxic oxygen minimum zone that impinges on the sea floor, is not significantly influenced by differences in bottom water oxygen concentration; and carbon stable isotope data suggest no preferential preservation of continental organic matter over that of marine origin.