A comparison of the distribution and sources of organic matter in surface sediments collected from northwestern and southwestern plateau lakes in China

<p>Surface lacustrine sediments from six plateau lakes in China were analysed for total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen, δ¹³C_org, δ¹⁵N_total, aliphatic hydrocarbons, fatty acids (FAs), and alkanols. The FAs and alkanols were fractionated into free and bound subfractions to facilitate investigation of their sources. Higher average TOC levels were observed in sediments from southwestern plateau lakes than in those from northwestern plateau lakes. The sediments from the southwestern plateau lakes may have been contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons from anthropogenic activities. The molecular compositions of n-alkanes, n-alkanols, and FAs extracted from the lacustrine sediments showed different responses to environmental changes. Most of the n-alkanol and FA distributions were dominated by short-chain components originating from algae and bacteria. However, the presence of long-chain n-alkanes indicate the presence of predominantly terrestrial organic matter (OM) in the sediment samples from the northwestern plateau lakes in China, suggesting that secondary components derived from post-depositional microbial activity were key contributors to the n-alkanols and FAs. Aquatic FAs derived from algae and anaerobic bacteria were a major component of the sedimentary OM and accounted for 65.1-90.2% of the total lipid concentrations.</p

Sources of organic matter in the surface sediments from Lake Sihailongwan Maar and Lake Zhanjiang Maar (Lake Huguangyan Maar) in China

Maar lakes are closed lakes that have a well-documented history of changes in organic matter (OM) production. The surface sediments from 2 typical maar lakes in China were analyzed for total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), delta C-13(org), delta N-15(total), aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHs), fatty acids (FAs) and alkanols. The FAs and alkanols were fractionated into two sub-fractions (free and bound) to investigate their sources. A higher TOC content was observed in the surface sediment from Lake Sihailongwan Maar than that from Lake Zhanjiang Maar. The molecular compositions of the n-alkanes, n-alkanols and FAs extracted from the surface sediments reveal different responses to environmental changes. The fatty acid distributions are dominated by short-chain components from algal and bacterial origins. However, the n-alkane and free n-alkanol distributions in the surface sediment from Lake Sihailongwan Maar are dominated by long-chain terrestrial source inputs, indicating that the secondary components of the post-depositional microbial activity are important for the FAs in the sediment from Lake Sihailongwan Maar. The aquatic FAs derived from algae and anaerobic bacteria are major components of sedimentary OM in all of the studied samples