Sources and distribution of sedimentary organic matter in the Beibu Gulf, China: Application of multiple proxies

Abstract

Geochemical and biomarker methods were combined to investigate the sources of sedimentary organic matter (OM) and their spatial distribution in the Beibu Gulf, a subtropical estuary in southern China. We measured the total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) content, the glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) concentration, as well as the isotopic composition of sedimentary OM (δ13Corg and δ15N) in surface sediments collected from the Beibu Gulf. The spatial distribution of the bulk organic parameters (TOC, TN, C/N ratio, δ13Corg, and δ15N) revealed a generally decreasing trend in terrestrial OM from the Maowei Sea to the outer Qinzhou Bay, and from the tributary rivers to the outer bay. The BIT (branched/isoprenoid tetraether) indices also decreased seaward from the Maowei Sea to the Qinzhou Bay, and from rivers to the outer bay, showing that soil OM was mainly delivered to the bay by rivers. The spatial patterns of these bulk parameters suggest that the terrigenous OC is constrained to the coast and adjacent regions. The relatively high GDGT-0/Crenarchaeol ratios and increasing δ15N values along the coast of the Maowei Sea indicate the anthropogenic nitrogen in the Beibu Gulf. Our results show how important a multiproxy approach can be to fully understand and quantify the relative contributions of terrestrial and marine OC components and the biogeochemical processes in the Beibu Gulf, especially in the context of growing anthropogenic activities.