Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur elemental and isotopic study in dated sediment cores from the Louisiana Shelf

  • Original
  • Published:
Geo-Marine Letters Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Three sediment cores were collected off the Mississippi River delta on the Louisiana Shelf at sites that are variably influenced by recurring, summer-time water-column hypoxia and fluvial loadings. The cores, with established chronology, were analyzed for their respective carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur elemental and isotopic composition to examine variable organic matter inputs, and to assess the sediment record for possible evidence of hypoxic events. Sediment from site MRJ03-3, which is located close to the Mississippi Canyon and generally not influenced by summer-time hypoxia, is typical of marine sediment in that it contains mostly marine algae and fine-grained material from the erosion of terrestrial C4 plants. Sediment from site MRJ03-2, located closer to the mouth of the Mississippi River and at the periphery of the hypoxic zone (annual recurrence of summer-time hypoxia >50%), is similar in composition to core MRJ03-3, but exhibits more isotopic and elemental variability down-core, suggesting that this site is more directly influenced by river discharge. Site MRJ03-5 is located in an area of recurring hypoxia (annual recurrence >75%), and is isotopically and elementally distinct from the other two cores. The carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of this core prior to 1960 is similar to average particulate organic matter from the lower Mississippi River, and approaches the composition of C3 plants. This site likely receives a greater input of local terrestrial organic matter to the sediment. After 1960 and to the present, a gradual shift to higher values of δ13C and δ15N and lower C:N ratios suggests that algal input to these shelf sediments increased as a result of increased productivity and hypoxia. The values of C:S and δ34S reflect site-specific processes that may be influenced by the higher likelihood of recurring seasonal hypoxia. In particular, the temporal variations in the C:S and δ34S down-core are likely caused by changes in the rate of sulfate reduction, and hence the degree of hypoxia in the overlying water column. Based principally on the down-core C:N and C:S ratios and δ13C and δ34S profiles, sites MRJ03-3 and MRJ03-2 generally reflect more marine organic matter inputs, while site MRJ03-5 appears to be more influenced by terrestrial deposition.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aharon P, Fu B (2003) Sulfur and oxygen isotopes of coeval sulfate-sulfide in pore fluids of cold seep sediment with sharp redox gradients. Chem Geol 195:201–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altabet MA, McCarthy JJ (1985) Temporal and spatial variations in the natural abundance of δ15N in POM from a warm-core ring. Deep Sea Res 32:755–772

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Álvarez-Salgado XA, Doval MD, Borges AV, Joint I, Frankignoulle M, Woodward EMS, Figueiras FG (2001) Off-shelf fluxes of labile materials by an upwelling filament in the NW Iberian upwelling system. Prog Oceanogr 51:321–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson LA, Sarmiento JL (1994) Redfield ratios of remineralization determined by nutrient data analysis. Global Biogeochem Cycles 8:65–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews JE, Greenaway AM, Dennis PF (1998) Combined carbon isotope and C/N ratios as indicators of source and fate of organic matter in a poorly flushed, Tropical estuary: Hunts Bay, Kingston Harbour, Jamaica. Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci 46:743–756

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angradi TR (1993) Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of seston in a regulated rocky mountain river, USA. Regul Rivers Res Manag 8:251–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angradi TR (1994) Trophic linkages in the lower Colorado River: multiple stable isotope evidence. J N Am Benthol Soc 13:479–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aranibar JN, Anderson IC, Epstein HE, Feral CJW, Swap RJ, Ramontsho J, Macko SA (2008) Nitrogen isotope composition of soils, C3 and C4 plants along land use gradients in southern Africa. J Arid Environ 72:326–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson MJ, Smith SV (1983) C:N:P ratios of benthic marine plants. Limnol Oceanogr 28:568–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi TS, Mitra S, McKee BA (2002) Sources of terrestrially-derived organic carbon in lower Mississippi River and Louisiana shelf sediment: implications for differential sedimentation and transport at the coastal margin. Mar Chem 77:211–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Böttcher ME, Oelschläger B, Höpner T, Brumsack H-J, Rullkötter J (1998) Sulfate reduction related to the early diagenetic degradation of organic matter and “black spot” formation in tidal sandflats of the German Wadden Sea (southern North Sea): stable isotope (13C, 34S, 18O) and other geochemical results. Org Geochem 29:1517–1530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Böttcher ME, Hespenheide B, Brumsack H-J, Bosselmann K (2004) Stable isotope biogeochemistry of the sulfur cycle in modern marine sediment: I. Seasonal dynamics in a temperate intertidal sandy surface sediment. Isot Environ Health Stud 40:267–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boutton RW (1991) Stable carbon isotope ratios of natural materials: II. Atmospheric, terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments. In: Coleman DC, Fry B (eds) Carbon isotope techniques. Academic, New York, pp 173–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Broadbent FE, Rauschkolb RS, Lewis KA, Chang GY (1980) Spatial variability in nitrogen-15 and total nitrogen in some virgin and cultivated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 44:524–527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callaway JC, DeLaune RD, Patrick WH Jr (1997) Sediment accretion rates from four coastal wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico. J Coastal Res 1:181–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Calvert SE, Fontugne MR (1987) Stable carbon isotopic evidence for the marine origin of the organic matter in the Holocene Black Sea sapropel. Chem Geol 66:315–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen N, Bianchi TS, McKee BA (2005) Early diagenesis of pigment biomarkers in the lower Mississippi River and Louisiana shelf: implications for carbon cycling in a river-dominated margin. Mar Chem 93:159–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coplen TB, Krouse HR (1998) Sulphur isotope data consistency improved. Nature 392:32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cornwell JC, Sampou PA (1995) Environmental controls on iron sulfide mineral formation in a coastal plain estuary. In: Vairavamurthy MA, Schoonen AA (eds) Geochemical transformations of sedimentary sulfur. ACS Symposium Series 612. American Chemical Society, Washington, pp 224–242

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Craig H (1953) The geochemistry of the stable carbon isotopes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 3:53–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Croisetière L, Hare L, Tessier A, Cabana G (2009) Sulphur stable isotopes can distinguish trophic dependence on sediments and plankton in boreal lakes. Freshw Biol 54:1006–1015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Degens ET (1969) Biogeochemistry of stable carbon isotopes. In: Eglington G, Murphy MTJ (eds) Organic geochemistry. Elsevier, New York, pp 304–329

    Google Scholar 

  • de Lange GJ, van Os B, Pruysers PA, Middleburg JJ, Castradori D, van Santvoort P, Müller PJ, Eggenkamp H, Prahl FG (1994) Possible early diagenetic alteration of palaeo proxies. In: Zahn R, Pedersen TF, Kaminski MA, Laneyrie L (eds) Carbon cycling in the glacial ocean. Constraints on the ocean’s role in global change. NATO ASI Series 17. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 225–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Devol A, Ruef W, Newton J, Richey J (2008) Anthropogenic contributions to hypoxia in lower Hood Canal, Washington State. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, Abstract #OS43C-1309

  • Eadie BJ, McKee BA, Lansing MB, Robbins JA, Metz S, Trefry JH (1994) Records of nutrient-enhanced coastal ocean productivity in sediments from the Louisiana continental shelf. Estuaries 17:754–765

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans RD, Ehleringer JR (1994) Water and nitrogen dynamics in an arid woodland. Oecologia 99:233–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finlay JC, Kendall C (2007) Stable isotope tracing of temporal and spatial variability in organic matter sources to freshwater ecosystems. In: Michener RH, Lajtha K (eds) Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science, 2nd edn. Blackwell, Malden, pp 283–333

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Freudenthal T, Wagner T, Wenzhöfer F, Zabel M, Wefer G (2001) Early diagenesis of organic matter from sediment of the eastern subtropical Atlantic: evidence from stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 65:1795–1808

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fry B (1991) Stable isotope diagrams of freshwater food webs. Ecology 72:2293–2297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fry B, Sherr EB (1984) δ13C measurements as indicators of carbon flow in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Contrib Mar Sci 22:13–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Fry B, Silva SR, Kendall C, Anderson RK (2002) Oxygen isotope corrections for online δ34S analysis. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 16:854–858

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goñi MA, Ruttenberg KC, Eglinton TI (1997) Sources and contribution of terrigenous organic carbon to surface sediments in the Gulf of Mexico. Nature 389:275–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goñi MA, Ruttenberg KC, Eglinton TI (1998) A reassessment of the sources and importance of land-derived organic matter in surface sediments from the Gulf of Mexico. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 62:3055–3075

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon ES, Goñi MA (2003) Sources and distribution of terrigenous organic matter delivered by the Atchafalaya River to sediments in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 67:2359–2375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon ES, Goñi MA (2004) Controls on the distribution and accumulation of terrigenous organic matter in sediments from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya river margin. Mar Chem 92:331–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon ES, Goñi MA, Roberts QN, Kineke GC, Allison MA (2001) Organic matter distribution and accumulation on the inner Louisiana shelf west of the Atchafalaya River. Cont Shelf Res 21:1691–1721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habicht KS, Canfield DE (1997) Sulfur isotope fractionation during bacterial sulfate reduction in organic-rich sediment. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 61:5351–5361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton SK, Lewis WM Jr (1992) Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in algae and detritus from the Orinoco River floodplain, Venezuela. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 56:4237–4246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedges JI, Parker PL (1976) Land-derived organic matter in surface sediment from the Gulf of Mexico. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 40:1019–1029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huerta-Diaz MA, Morse JW (1992) Pyritization of trace metals in anoxic marine sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 56:2681–2702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyams-Kaphzan O, Almogi-Labin A, Herut B, Benjamini C (2008) Anthropogenic eutrophication causing seasonal hypoxia on the oligotrophic Israeli shelf. In: Abstr 33rd IGC Int Geological Congress, 6–14 August 2008, Oslo. http://www.cprm.gov.br/33IGC/1341648.html

  • Jasper J, Gagosian R (1989) Glacial-interglacial climatically forced δ13C variations in sedimentary organic matter. Nature 343:60–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jørgensen BB (1977) The sulfur cycle of a coastal marine environment (Limfjorden, Denmark). Limnol Oceanogr 22:814–832

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jørgensen BB (1979) A theoretical model of the stable sulfur isotope distribution in marine sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 43:363–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Justic D, Rabalais NN, Turner RE (1995) Stoichiometric nutrient balance and origin of coastal eutrophication. Mar Pollut Bull 30:41–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall C, Silva SR, Kelly VJ (2001) Carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of particulate organic matter in four large river systems across the United States. Hydrol Process 15:1301–1346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall C, Elliott EM, Wankel SD (2007) Tracing anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen to ecosystems. In: Michener RH, Lajtha K (eds) Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science, 2nd edn. Blackwell, Malden, pp 375–449

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kharlamenko VI, Kiyashko SI, Imbs AB, Vyshkvarzev DI (2001) Identification of food sources of invertebrates from the seagrass Zostera marina community using carbon and sulfur stable isotope ratio and fatty acid analyses. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 220:103–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krouse HR, Grineko VA (eds) (1991) Stable isotopes. Natural and anthropogenic sulphur in the environment. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • LaZerte BD (1983) Stable carbon isotope ratios: implications for the source sediment carbon and for phytoplankton carbon assimilation in Lake Memphremagog, Quebec. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 40:1658–1666

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaZerte BD, Szalados JE (1982) Stable carbon isotope ratio of submerged freshwater macrophytes. Limnol Oceanogr 27:413–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal JS (1983) An interpretation of carbon and sulfur relationships in Black Sea sediments as indicators of environments of deposition. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 47:133–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin A, Morse JW (1991) Sulfate reduction and iron sulfide mineral formation in Gulf of Mexico anoxic sediments. Am J Sci 291:55–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loneragan NR, Bunn SE, Kellaway DM (1997) Are mangroves and seagrasses sources of organic carbon for penaeid prawns in a tropical Australian estuary? A multiple stable-isotope study. Mar Biol 130:289–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mariotti A, Lancelot C, Billen G (1984) Natural isotope composition of nitrogen as a tracer of origin of suspended organic matter in the Scheldt estuary. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 48:549–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCusker EM, Ostrom PH, Ostrom NE, Jeremiason JD, Baker JE (1999) Seasonal variation in the biogeochemical cycling of seston in Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan. Org Geochem 30:1543–1557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyers PA, Eadie BJ (1993) Sources, degradation, and recycling of organic matter associated with sinking particles in Lake Michigan. Org Geochem 20:47–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michener RH, Schell DM (1994) Stable isotope ratios as tracers in marine aquatic food webs. In: Michener RH, Lajtha K (eds) Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science, 2nd edn. Blackwell, Malden, pp 138–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Minagawa M, Wada E (1984) Stepwise enrichment of 15N along food chains: further evidence and the relation between δ15N and animal age. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 40:1135–1140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morse JW, Rowe GT (1999) Benthic biogeochemistry beneath the Mississippi River Plume. Estuaries 22:206–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Leary MH (1988) Carbon isotopes in photosynthesis. BioScience 38:328–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Onstad GD, Canfield DE, Quay PD, Hedges JI (2000) Sources of particulate organic matter in rivers from the continental USA: lignin phenol and stable carbon isotope compositions. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 64:3539–3546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orem WH, Holmes CW, Kendall C, Lerch HE, Bates AL, Silva S, Boylan A, Corum M, Marot M, Hedgman C (1999) Geochemistry of Florida Bay sediment: nutrient history at five sites in eastern and central Florida Bay. J Coastal Res 15:1055–1071

    Google Scholar 

  • Orem WH, Rosenbauer RJ, Swarzenski PW, Lerch HE, Corum MD, Bates AL (2007) Organic geochemistry of sediment in nearshore areas of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers: I. General organic characterization. US Geol Surv Open-File Rep 2007-1180

  • Ostrom NE, Macko SA, Deibel D, Thompson R (1997) Seasonal variation in the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope biogeochemistry of a coastal cold ocean environment. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 61:2929–2942

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom NE, Knoke KE, Hedin LO, Robertson GP, Smucker AJM (1998) Temporal trends in nitrogen isotope values of nitrate leaching from an agricultural soil. Chem Geol 146:219–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owens NJP (1987) Natural variations in δ15N in the marine environment. Adv Mar Biol 24:390–472

    Google Scholar 

  • Pakulski JD, Benner R, Whitledge T, Amon R, Eadie B, Cifuentes L, Ammerman J, Stockwell D (2000) Microbial metabolism and nutrient cycling in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River plumes. Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci 50:173–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pate JS, Unkovich MJ, Armstrong EL, Sanford P (1994) Selection of reference plants for lSN natural abundance assessment of N, fixation by crop and pasture legumes in southwest Australia. Aust J Agric Res 45:133–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perdue EM, Koprivnjak JF (2007) Using the C/N ratio to estimate terrigenous inputs of organic matter to aquatic environments. Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci 73:65–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson BJ, Fry B (1987) Stable isotopes in ecosystem studies. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 18:293–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson BJ, Howarth RW (1987) Sulfur, carbon, and nitrogen isotopes used to trace organic matter flow in the salt-marsh estuaries of Sapelo Island, Georgia. Limnol Oceanogr 32:1195–1213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rabalais NN, Turner RE, Wiseman WJ (2002a) Gulf of Mexico hypoxia, a.k.a. “The dead zone”. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 33:235–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rabalais NN, Turner RE, Dortch Q, Justic D, Bierman VJ Jr, Wiseman WJ Jr (2002b) Nutrient-enhanced productivity in the northern Gulf of Mexico: past, present and future. Hydrobiologia 475(476):39–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redfield AC, Ketchum BH, Richards FA (1963) The influence of organisms on the composition of sea-water. In: Hill N (ed) In the sea, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York, pp 26–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe GT, Cruz-Kaegi ME, Morse J, Boland G, Escobar Briones E (2002) Sediment community metabolism associated with continental shelf hypoxia, northern Gulf of Mexico. Estuaries 25:1097–1106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudnicki MD, Elderfield H, Spiro B (2001) Fractionation of sulfur isotopes during bacterial sulfate reduction in deep ocean sediments at elevated temperatures. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 65:777–789

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sackett WM, Thompson RR (1963) Isotopic organic composition of recent continental derived clastic sediment of eastern Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico. Bull Am Assoc Petrol Geol 47:525–531

    Google Scholar 

  • Santschi PH, Okay SD, Cifuentes L (2007) Carbon isotopes and iodine concentrations in a Mississippi River delta core recording land use, sediment transport, and dam building in the river’s drainage basin. Mar Environ Res 63:278–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scavia D, Rabalais NN, Turner RE, Justic D, Wiseman WJ Jr (2003) Predicting the response of Gulf of Mexico hypoxia to variations in Mississippi River nitrogen load. Limnol Oceanogr 48:951–956

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlacher TA, Wooldridge TH (1996) Origin and trophic importance of detritus – evidence from stable isotopes in the benthos of a small, temperate estuary. Oecologia 106:382–388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz D, Calder JA (1976) Organic carbon 13C/12C variations in estuarine sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 40:381–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sigman DM, Altabet MA, Francois R, McCorkle DC, Gaillard JF (1999) The isotopic composition of diatom-bound nitrogen in Southern Ocean sediment. Paleoceanography 14:118–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swarzenski PW, Baskaran M, Orem WG, Rosenbauer R (2006) Historical reconstruction of contaminant inputs within sediments of the Mississippi River Delta. Estuaries Coasts 29:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Swarzenski PW, Campbell PL, Poore RZ, Osterman LE, Rosenbauer RJ (2007) Examining offshore sediment-hosted contaminant transport from Hurricane Katrina. In: Farris GS, Smith GJ, Crane MP, Demas CR, Robbins LL, Lavoie DL (eds) Science and the storms—the USGS response to the hurricanes of 2005. US Geol Surv Circ 1306, pp 198–201

  • Swarzenski PW, Campbell PL, Osterman LE, Poore RZ (2008) A combined geochemical and foraminiferal study on the Louisiana shelf: evidence for recurring low-oxygen events during the last millennium? Mar Chem 109:130–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweeney RE, Kaplan IR (1980a) Natural abundances of nitrogen-15 as a source indicator for near-shore marine sedimentary and dissolved nitrogen. Mar Chem 9:81–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweeney RE, Kaplan IR (1980b) Tracing flocculent industrial and domestic sewage transport on San Pedro shelf, southern California, by nitrogen and sulfur isotope ratios. Mar Environ Res 3:215–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan FC, Strain PM (1983) Sources, sinks and distribution of organic carbon in the St Lawrence Estuary, Canada. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 47:125–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thode HG (1991) Sulphur isotopes in nature and the environment: an overview. In: Krouse HR, Grinenko VA (eds) Stable isotopes. Natural and anthropogenic sulphur in the environment. Wiley, New York, pp 1–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorp JH, Delong MD, Greenwood KS, Casper AF (1998) Isotopic analysis of three food web theories in constricted and floodplain regions of a large river. Oecologia 117:551–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tudge AP, Thode HG (1950) Thermodynamic properties of isotopic compounds of sulfur. Can J Res 28B:567–578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vander Zanden MJ, Rasmussen JB (1999) Primary consumer δ13C and δ15N and the trophic position of aquatic consumers. Ecology 80:1395–1404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wada E, Kadonaga T, Matsuo S (1975) 15N abundance in nitrogen of naturally occurring substances and global assessment of denitrification from isotopic viewpoint. Geochem J 9:139–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiseman WJ, Rabalais NN, Turner RE, Daniel SP, MacNaughton A (1997) Seasonal and inter-annual variability within the Louisiana coastal current: stratification and hypoxia. J Mar Syst 12:237–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wissel B, Fry B (2005) Sources of particulate matter in the Mississippi River, USA. Arch Hydrobiol 15:105–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamamuro M, Kayanne H (1995) Rapid direct determination of organic carbon and nitrogen in carbonate-bearing sediment with a Yanaco MT-5 CHN analyzer. Limnol Oceanogr 40:1001–1005

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA

    Robert J. Rosenbauer, Carol Kendall, Frances D. Hostettler & Mark E. Rollog

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, 956 National Center, Reston, VA, 20192, USA

    William H. Orem

  3. U.S. Geological Survey, 400 Natural Bridges Dr., Santa Cruz, CA, 95065, USA

    Peter W. Swarzenski

Authors
  1. Robert J. Rosenbauer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter W. Swarzenski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Carol Kendall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. William H. Orem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Frances D. Hostettler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Mark E. Rollog
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert J. Rosenbauer.

Electronic supplementary materials

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Table 4

Content (% dry wt.) of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), total sulfur (TS), atomic TOC/TN and TOC/TS ratios, and δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S values of TOC, TN, and TS, respectively, of sedimentary organic matter in core MRJ03-2, offshore Mississippi River system (nd not determined). (DOC 96 kb)

Table 5

Content (% dry wt.) of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), total sulfur (TS), atomic TOC/TN and TOC/TS ratios, and δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S values of TOC, TN, and TS, respectively, of sedimentary organic matter in core MRJ03-3, offshore Mississippi River system. (DOC 98 kb)

Table 6

Content (% dry wt.) of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), total sulfur (TS), atomic TOC/TN and TOC/TS ratios, and δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S values of TOC, TN, and TS, respectively, of sedimentary organic matter in core MRJ03-5, offshore Mississippi River system. (DOC 80 kb)

Supplementary material, approximately 749 KB.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rosenbauer, R.J., Swarzenski, P.W., Kendall, C. et al. A carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur elemental and isotopic study in dated sediment cores from the Louisiana Shelf. Geo-Mar Lett 29, 415–429 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-009-0151-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-009-0151-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation