Organic sources and carbon sequestration in Holocene shelf sediments from the western Arctic Ocean

To quantify changes in organic carbon inputs and preservation, sediments from the Northern Chukchi Sea spanning the last 9000 years of the Holocene period were collected during the HOTRAX expedition and analyzed. The multi-proxy approach included molecular organic markers, bulk carbon and isotope measurements plus more recent approaches to terrestrial carbon estimation (the BIT index of Branched and Isoprenoid Tetraethers). The upper 1100 cm of the core, corresponding to the last 7.4 ka, showed a relatively stable total organic carbon content of 1.13–1.38% which decreased below 1100 cm to 0.6%. C:N ratios ranged from 8.4 to 10.83 over the Holocene time period examined. The distribution of n-alcohols and n-alkanes revealed major contributions from long-chain n-alcohols and n-alkanes while minimal contributions were seen from short-chain n-alkanes. The majority of the total fatty acids was comprised of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids with short-chain and long-chain saturated fatty acids present in similar concentrations throughout most of the core and monounsaturated fatty acids decreasing down-core. Total sterol concentrations showed considerable inputs from marine sterols, C28Δ5,22, C28Δ5,24(28) and dinosterol, as well as C29Δ5, typically considered a terrestrial marker. The BIT indices for core sediments ranged from 0.021 to 0.216 with minor changes seen in older sequences. Overall, organic biomarkers indicate marine sources as the more dominant input of organic matter with lower but continual contributions from terrestrial sources at this location during the Holocene. The remarkable consistency among multiple molecular organic markers of both marine and terrestrial origin over the Holocene period encompassed by the core suggests that sinking material or surface sediments were heavily influenced by bottom currents or other mixing processes prior to their deposition.