Particulate organic matter higher concentrations, terrestrial sources and losses in bottom waters of the turbidity maximum, Delaware Estuary, U.S.A.

Abstract

The pathway and fate of land-derived suspended particulate organic matter (POM) as it passes through estuaries remains a poorly constrained component of coastal carbon dynamics. The δ13C of bulk POC (particulate organic carbon; δ13C-POC) and n-alkane biomarkers were used to assess the proportion of algal- and land- (vascular plant) derived POM through the Delaware Estuary, on five cruises in 2010–2011. We found that POC was highly correlated with suspended sediment concentrations (SSC). Higher SSC was present in bottom waters, causing bottom waters to have consistently higher concentrations of POC than surface waters, with the bottom waters of the estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) exhibiting maximum POC concentrations for all seasons and flow regimes. Algal-derived POM seasonally affected the δ13C-POC and n-alkane geochemical signatures of surface waters, whereas bottom waters were dominated by vascular plant-derived POM. δ13C-POC results suggested a gradual loss in vascular plant-derived POM between the riverine and marine endmember stations. In contrast, n-alkane concentrations peaked in bottom waters of the ETM at 2–5 times surface water concentrations. Indices of the relative proportions of n-alkanes and n-alkanes as a proportion of total POC had their levels decrease considerably downstream of the ETM. These biomarker analyses suggest enhanced loss of land-derived material across the ETM and that the ETM acts as a geochemical filter for vascular plant-derived POM in a classic well mixed estuary.