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Detection and indication of 1,3,4-C27–29 triol in the sediment of northern South China Sea

  • Research Paper
  • Special Topic: Advances in organic proxies for research in climate and environmental changes
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Abstract

After the detection of the 1,20,21-C29 long-chain triol in some sediments and freshwater pteridophytes, in this study, a new homologous long-chain triol, 1,3,4-C27–29, is detected for the first time in the Site4B core sediment in the northern South China Sea. The hydroxyl location and length of the carbon chain of this newly discovered triol differ from those of 1,20,21-C29 triol. The test results of its molecular distribution and individual carbon isotope reveal that 1,3,4-C29triol has a good correlation with n-C26–30 even carbon-numbered long-chain fatty alcohols, with R 2 (n=68) values of 0.905, 0.929 and 0.903, respectively, and its carbon isotope composition, at–32.3‰±1.9‰, is similar to that of n-C26-30, at–29.13‰±0.87‰,–32.98‰±1.28‰, and–32.98‰±1.28‰. 1,3,4-C29 triol from the Site4B core sediment and terrigenous long-chain fatty alcohol (n-C26–34) show highly consistent distribution trends in the entire section; thus, the former could serve as a proxy indicator of the terrigenous input. Considering that the 1,20,21-C29 triol in previous research belongs to Azolla, which are fresh water pteridophytes, the 1,3,4-C27–29 triol identified in this study might have similar biogenetic derivation. Thus, determination of its biogenic area and growing environment could provide potential organic geochemical evidence supporting the terrigenous input and source in the northern South China Sea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, CAS, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    XiaoWei Zhu & GuoDong Jia

  2. Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, CAS, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    XiaoWei Zhu & GuoDong Jia

  3. Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, CAS, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    ShengYi Mao, NengYou Wu, HongXiang Guan & DaiDai Wu

  4. Department of Geosciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310037, China

    YongGe Sun

  5. Guangzhou Center for Gas Hydrate Research, CAS, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    ShengYi Mao, NengYou Wu, HongXiang Guan & DaiDai Wu

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  1. XiaoWei Zhu
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Correspondence to ShengYi Mao.

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Zhu, X., Mao, S., Wu, N. et al. Detection and indication of 1,3,4-C27–29 triol in the sediment of northern South China Sea. Sci. China Earth Sci. 59, 1187–1194 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-016-5270-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-016-5270-3

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