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Origin of stanols in young lacustrine sediments

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Abstract

STEROIDAL skeletons have been widely used as markers of the biological origin of organic material in ancient sediments1–7 and petroleum8. Nevertheless, the origin and fate of sterols (stanols and stenols) in recent sediments are poorly understood. Here the significant contribution of organism-derived stanols (saturated sterols) to lacustrine sediments is reported and the geochemical significance discussed. The presence of stanols in recent and ancient sediments, together with unaltered stenols (unsaturated sterols) commonly found in algae, has been reported9–12. In view of the rare abundance of stanols in living organisms, this occurrence has been used as evidence that partial reduction of naturally occurring stenols had taken place over geological time. Stanols have also been identified in contemporary lacustrine sediments13–17. Based on the conversion of 14C-cholesterol into 14C-cholestanol under in situ incubation, Gaskell and Eglinton17,18 proposed that such stanols in young sediments originate from stenols by microbiological reduction after deposition.

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  1. Water Research Institute, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku Nagoya, Japan

    MITSUGU NISHIMURA

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NISHIMURA, M. Origin of stanols in young lacustrine sediments. Nature 270, 711–712 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/270711a0

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