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Biomarker assessment of organic matter sources and degradation in Canadian High Arctic littoral sediments

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Abstract

Carbon stocks in the High Arctic are particularly sensitive to global climate change and the investigation of the variation in organic matter (OM) composition is beneficial for improved understanding of OM vulnerability. OM biomarker characterization of solvent–extractable compounds and CuO oxidation products of littoral sedimentary OM in the Canadian Arctic was conducted to determine OM sources and decomposition patterns. The solvent–extracts contained a series of aliphatic lipids, steroids and one triterpenoid of higher plant origin as well as the low abundance of iso- and anteiso-alkanes originating from Cerastium arcticum (Arctic mouse-ear chickweed), a native angiosperm. The carbon preference index (CPI) of the n-alkane, n-alkanol and n-alkanoic acid biomarkers suggests relatively fresh lipid material in the early stages of degradation. The CuO oxidation products were comprised of benzenes, lignin-derived phenols and short–chain diacids and hydroxyacids. A high abundance of these terrestrial biomarkers at sites close to the river inlet suggests soil-derived fluvial inputs are an important source of OM delivered to the littoral sediments. The high lignin-derived phenol ratios of acids to aldehydes suggest that lignin degradation is in a relatively advanced oxidation stage. The absence of ergosterol, a common fungal biomarker also suggests that lignin-derived OM may be preserved in soil OM and transported to littoral sediments. This representative OM characterization suggests that Arctic sedimentary OM is a mixture of recently deposited and/or preserved lipids in permafrost melt and oxidized lignin-derived OM that may become destabilized from external influences such as climate change.

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Abbreviations

OM:

Organic matter

GC-MS:

Gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry

MAGs:

Monoacylglycerols

CPI:

Carbon preference index

Ad/Al:

Acid/Aldehyde

V:

Vanillyl monomers

S:

Syringyl monomers

C:

Cinnamyl monomers

3,5-DHBA:

3,5-Dihydroxybenzoic acid

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Acknowledgements

We thank three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments that greatly improved the quality of this manuscript. We thank the Government of Canada International Polar Year program for support. Polar Continental Shelf Project, Natural Resources Canada provided logistical support for sampling. M.J.S. thanks the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada for support via a University Faculty Award. B.G.P. thanks NSERC for a Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-M). Long term research at Cape Bounty has been supported by NSERC and ArcticNet awards to S.F.L.

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  1. Angelika Otto

    Present address: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Sektion Palaeobotanik, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada

    Brent G. Pautler, Janice Austin, Angelika Otto & Myrna J. Simpson

  2. Department of Geography, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Kailey Stewart & Scott F. Lamoureux

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  1. Brent G. Pautler
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Correspondence to Myrna J. Simpson.

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Pautler, B.G., Austin, J., Otto, A. et al. Biomarker assessment of organic matter sources and degradation in Canadian High Arctic littoral sediments. Biogeochemistry 100, 75–87 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-009-9405-x

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