Abstract
We sampled the sediments of the East China Sea during 2005 and 2006, and analysed the contents of the biogenic matters: biogenic silica, organic carbon, and organic nitrogen. From the surface distribution we found the contents of these substances to be in the ranges of 0.72%–1.64%, 0.043%–0.82%, and 0.006%–0.11%, respectively. Their distributions were similar to each other, being high inside the Hangzhou Bay and low outside the bay. The vertical variations of the contents were also similar. In order to discuss the relation between them we analysed the variations of content with depth. They increased in the first 7 cm and then decreased with depth. The peaks were found at depths between 20 to 25 cm. The distribution of carbonate showed an opposite trend to that of biogenic matters. The content of total carbon was relatively stable with respect to depth, and the ratio of high organic carbon to carbonate showed a low burial efficiency of carbonate, which means that the main burial of carbon is organic carbon. In order to discuss the source of organic matters, the ratio of organic carbon to organic nitrogen was calculated, which was 8.01 to 9.65, indicating that the organic matter in the sediments was derived mainly from phytoplankton in the seawater.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amanda, M. V., Robinson, W. F., Zoe, J. H., and Joanna, C. C., 2011. The ebb and flood of Silica: Quantifying dissolved and biogenic silica fluxes from a temperate salt marsh. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 95: 415–423.
Anderson, R. F., Kumar, N., Mortlock, R. A., Froelich, P. N., Kubik, P., Dittrich-Hannen, B., and Suter, M., 1998. Late- Quaternary changes in productivity of the Southern Ocean. Journal of Marine Systems, 17 (1): 497–514.
Bernárdez, P., Prego, R., Frances, G., and González-Álvarez, R., 2005. Opal content in the Ria de Vigo and Galician continental shelf: Biogenic silica in the muddy fraction as an accurate paleoproductivity proxy. Continental Shelf Research, 25 (10): 1249–1264.
Blair, N. E., and Aller, R. C., 2012. The fate of terrestrial organic carbon in the marine environment. Annual Review of Marine Science, (4): 401–423.
Boyd, P. W., and Newton, P. P., 1999. Does planktonic community structure determine downward particulate organic carbon flux in different oceanic provinces? Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 46 (1): 63–91.
Buesseller, K. O., 1998. The decoupling of production and particulate export in the surface ocean. Global and Biogeochemical Cycles, 12 (2): 297–310.
Calvert, S. E., and Pedersen, T. F., 1993. Geochemistry of recent oxic and anoxic marine sediments: Implications for the geological record. Marine Geology, 113 (1–2): 67–68.
Cawthern, T., Johoson, J. E., Giosan, L., Flores, J. A., Rose, K., and Solomon, E., 2014. A late Miocene-Early Pliocene biogenic silica crash in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 58: 1–12.
Chen, T., Hammond, D. E., Berelson, W. M., Hering, J. G., and Dixit, S., 2009. Dissolution kinetics of biogenic silica collected from the water column and sediments of three Southern California borderland basins. Marine Chemistry, 113: 41–49.
Chester, R., 1990. Marine Geochemistry. Unwin Hyman Ltd, London, 1–55.
Cushing, D. H., 1989. A difference in structure between ecosystems in strongly stratified waters and in those that are only weakly stratified. Journal of Plankton Research, 11 (1): 1–13.
DeMaster, D. J., 1981. The supply and accumulation of silica in the marine environment. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 45 (10): 1715–1732.
DeMaster, D. J., 2002. The accumulation and cycling of biogenic silica in the South Ocean: Revisiting the marine silica budget. Deep-Sea Research Part?, 49 (16): 3155–3167.
Duan, L. Y., Wang, Z. H., Li, M. T., Pan, J. M., and Chen, Z. Y., 2005. 210Pb distribution of Changjing Estuarine sediment and the implications to sedimentary environment. Acta Sedimentologica Sinaca, 23 (3): 514–522 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Ozkan, E. Y., Buyukisik, H. B., and Kontas, A., 2014. Biogeochemical behavior and distribution of biogenic silica in marine sediments from Izmir Bay, Aegean Sea (Turkey). Marine Chemistry, 164: 1–8.
Goldman, J. G., 1988. Spatial and temporal discontinuities of biological processes in pelagic surface water. In: Toward a Theory of Biological-Physical Interaction in the World Ocean. Rothschild, B. J., ed., Kluwer, Dordrecht, 273–296.
Hanson, R. B., Ducklow, H. W., and Field, J. G., 2000. The changing ocean carbon cycle: A midterm of the JGOFS. Cambridge University Press, London, 15–36.
Hou, L. J., Liu, M., Xu, S. Y., Yan, H. M., Ou, D. N., Cheng, S. B., and Lin, X., 2008, Distriubion and accumulation of biogenic silica in the intertidal sediments of Yangtze Estuary. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 20: 543–550.
Hou, L. J., Liu, M., Yang, L., Qu, D. N., Lin, X., and Chen, H., 2010. Biogenic silica in intertidal marsh plants and associated sediments of the Yangtze Estuary. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 22: 374–380.
Kamatani, A., and Oku, O., 2000. Measuring biogenic silica in the marine sediments. Marine Chemistry, 68 (3): 219–229.
Krause, J. W., Brzezinski, M., Villareal, T. A., and Wilson, C., 2013. Biogenic silica cycling during summer phytoplankton blooms in the North Pacic subtropical gyre. Deep-Sea Research I, 71: 49–60.
Krause, J. W., Nelson, D. M., and Lomas, M. W., 2009. Biogeochemical responses to late-winter storms in the Sargasso Sea, II: Increased rates of biogenic silica production and export. Deep-Sea Research I, 56: 861–874.
Hu, L. M., Shi, X. F., Guo, Z. G., Wang, H. J., and Zhang, Z. S., 2013. Sources, dispersal and preservation of sedimentary organic matter in the Yellow Sea: The importance of depositional hydrodynamic forcing. Marine Geology, 335: 52–63.
Li, X., Bianchi, T. S., Allison, M. A., Chapman, P., Mitra, S., Zhang, Z., Yang, G. P., and Yu, Z. G., 2012. Compositon, adundance and age of total organic carbon in the surface sediment from the inner shelf of the East China Sea. Marine Chemistry, 145–147: 37–52.
Li, D., Yao, P., Bianchi, T. S., Zhang, T. T., Zhao, B., Pan, H. H., Wang, J. P., and Yu, Z. G., 2014. Organic carbon cycling in the sediments of the Changjing Esturary and adjacent shelf: Implication for the influence of Three Gorges Dam. Journal of Marine Systems, 139: 409–419.
Liu, S. M., Ye, X. W., Zhang, J., and Zhao, Y. F., 2002. Problems with biogenic silica measurement in the marginal seas. Marine geology, 192 (4): 383–392.
Lyle, M., Murray, D. W., Finney, B. P., Dymond, J., Robbins, J. M., and Brooksforce, K., 1988. The record of late Pleistocene biogenic sedimentation in eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Paleocean, 3 (1): 39–59.
Masqué, P., Fabres, J., Calafat, A. M., Canals, M., Sanchez-Cabeza, J. A., Sanchez-Vidal, A., Cacho, I., and Bruach, J. M., 2003. Accumulation rates of major constituents of hemi-pelagic sediments in the deep Alboran Sea: A centennial perspective of sedimentary dynamics. Marine Geology, 193: 203–233.
Meyers, P. A., 1994. Preservation of elemental and isotopic source identification of sedimentary orangic matter. Chemistry Geology, 114 (3–4): 289–302.
Mortlock, R. A., and Froelich, P. N., 1989. A simple method for the rapid determination of biogenic opal in pelagic marine sediments. Deep-Sea Research, 36 (9): 1415–1426.
Mortlock, R. A., Charles, C. D., Froelich, P. N., Zibello, M. A., Saltzman, J., Hays, J. D., and Burckle, L. A., 1991. Evidence for lower productivity in the Antarctic Ocean during the last glaciations. Nature, 351: 220–223.
Nelson, D. M., Tréguer, P., Brzezinski, M. A., Leynaert, A., and Quéguiner, B., 1995. Production and dissolution of biogenic silica in the ocean: Revised global estimates, comparison with regional data and relationship to biogenic sedimention. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 9 (3): 359–372.
Ragueneau, O., Gallinari, M., and Corrin, L., 2001. The benthic silica cycle in the Northeast Atlantic: Annual mass balance, seasonality and importance of non-steady-state progresss for the early diagenesis of biogenic opal in deep-sea sediments. Progress in Oceanography, 50 (1–4): 171–200.
Ragueneau, Q., Savoye, N., Del, Amo, Y., Cotton, J., Tardiveau, B., and Leynaert, A., 2005. A new method for the measurement of biogenic silica in suspended matter of coastal water: Using Si:Al ratio to correct for the mineral interference. Continental Shelf Research, 25 (5–6): 697–710.
Ryther, J. H., 1969. Photosynthesis and fish production in the sea. Science, 166: 72–76.
Sayles, F. L., Martin, W. R., Chase, Z., and Anderson, R. F., 2001. Benthic remineralization and burial of biogenic SiO2 CaCO3, organic carbon and detrital material in the Southern Ocean alonga transect at 170°W. Deep-Sea Research Part II, 48 (19): 4323–4383.
Shibamoto, Y., and Harada, K., 2010. Silicon flux and distribution of biogenic silica in deep-sea sediments in the Western North Pacic Ocean. Deep-Sea Research I, 57: 163–174.
Tréguer, P., Nelson, D. M., Van Bennekom, A. J., DeMaster, D. J., Leynaert, A., and Quéguiner, B., 1995. The silica balance in the world ocean: A reestimate. Science, 268: 375–379.
Wang, B. D., 2006. Cultural eutrophication in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) plume: History and perspective. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 69 (3–4): 471–477.
Wang, L., Fan, D. J., Li, W. R., Liao, Y. J., Zhang, X.L., Liu, M., and Yang, Z. S., 2014. Grain-size effect of biogenic silica in the surface sediments of the East China Sea. Contiental Shelf Research, 81: 29–37.
Xing, L., Zhang, H., Yuan, Z., Sun, Y., and Zhao, M., 2011. Terrestrial and marine biomarker estimates of organic matter sources and distributions in surface sediments from the East China Sea shelf. Continental Shelf Research, 31: 1106–1115.
Xu, K. H., Li, A. C., Liu, J. P., Ji, D. M., Yang, Z. S., Liu, C., Kao, S., Wan, S., and Xu, F., 2012. Provenance, structure, and formation of the mud wedge along inner continental shelf of the East China Sea: A synthesis of the Yangtze dispersal system. Marine Geology, 294: 176–191.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, L., Zhang, C. & Shi, X. The burial of biogenic silica, organic carbon and organic nitrogen in the sediments of the East China Sea. J. Ocean Univ. China 14, 464–470 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-015-2522-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-015-2522-3