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Paleoenvironmental implications of Holocene long-chain n-alkanes on the northern Bering Sea Slope

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Abstract

The records of high-resolution terrestrial biological markers (biomarkers) from Core B2-9 from the northern Bering Sea Slope over the last 9.6 ka BP were presented in the study. Variations in input of terrestrial long-chain nalkanes (referred to as n-alkanes) and vegetation structure in their source regions were investigated. The results show that the nC27 is the main carbon peak and has the greatest contribution rate of the total n-alkane content; this might be related to the abundance of woody plants and their spatial distribution in the source region. nC23 is another n-alkane having a relatively high content; this was mainly derived from submerged plants widespread along the coastal areas in the northern hemisphere. Total n-alkane content dropped quickly at ca. 7.8 ka BP, ca. 6.7 ka BP and ca. 5.4 ka BP, and was followed by four relatively stable stages mostly controlled by sea-level rise, climate change and vegetation distribution in the source region. Variation in carbon preference index (CPI) indicates that the n-alkanes primarily originated from higher land plants, and the average chain length (ACL) and nC31/nC27 ratio reveal the relatively stable presence of woody/herbaceous plants during the Holocene, and dominate woody plants in most of the time. Simultaneous variation in total n-alkane content, nC27 content and its contribution, CPI, ACL and nC31/nC27 ratio over several short periods suggest that the growth rate of the woody plant n-alkane contribution was lower than that of herbaceous plants and fossil n-alkanes under the particular climatic conditions of the source region.

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Acknowledgements

The research was a part of “First China Arctic Expedition” (referred to as CHINARE-1999), which organized by Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration of State Oceanic Administration and funded by Ministry of Finance of PR China. The authors thank all the cruise members of CHINARE-1999 for collecting samples. Li Wenbao (Tongji University) and Lu Bing (SIO) are acknowledged for their analytical support and suggestions on the manuscript.

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  1. Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem and Biogeochemistry, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, 310012, China

    Haifeng Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Haifeng Zhang, Rujian Wang & Wenshen Xiao

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  1. Haifeng Zhang
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Correspondence to Rujian Wang.

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Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41030859, 41506223, CHINARE2017-03-02 and IC201105; the Geological Investigation Project of China Geological Survey under contract Nos 12120113006200 and 1212011120044.

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Zhang, H., Wang, R. & Xiao, W. Paleoenvironmental implications of Holocene long-chain n-alkanes on the northern Bering Sea Slope. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 36, 137–145 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-1032-0

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