Search

Bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs) are a diverse class of bacterial lipids that hold promise as biomarkers of specific microbes, microbial processes, and environmental conditions. BHPs have been characterized in a variety of terrestrial and aquatic environments, but less is known about their distribution and abundance in extreme environmental systems. In the present study, samples taken from the water column and upper sediments of the hyper-euxinic, meromictic Mahoney Lake (Canada) were analyzed for BHPs. Analyses show distinct BHP distributions within the oxic mixolimnion, the chemocline, and the euxinic monimolimnion. Bacteriohopanetetrol (BHT) and unsaturated BHT are the dominant BHPs found in the oxic mixolimnion and at the chemocline, whereas a novel BHP (tentatively identified as diunsaturated aminotriol) dominates the euxinic monimolimnion. Along with the novel BHP structure, composite BHPs (i.e., BHT-cyclitol ether and BHT-glucosamine) were observed in the euxinic monimolimnion and sediments, indicating their production by anaerobic bacteria. Complementary metagenomic analysis of genes involved in BHP biosynthesis (i.e., shc, hpnH, hpnO, hpnP, and hpnR) further revealed that BHPs in Mahoney Lake are most likely produced by bacteria belonging to Deltaproteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Planctomycetia, and Verrucomicrobia. The combined observations of BHP distribution and metagenomic analyses additionally indicate that 2- and 3-methyl BHTs are produced within the euxinic sediments in response to low oxygen and high osmotic concentrations, as opposed to being diagnostic biomarkers of cyanobacteria and aerobic metabolisms.

Increasing attention is being paid to the carbon sequestration and storage services provided by coastal blue carbon ecosystems such as saltmarshes. Sites restored by managed realignment, where existing sea walls are breached to reinstate tidal inundation to the land behind, have considerable potential to accumulate carbon through deposition of sediment brought in by the tide and burial of vegetation in the site. While this potential has been recognised, it is not yet a common motivating factor for saltmarsh restoration, partly due to uncertainties about the rate of carbon accumulation and how this balances against the greenhouse gases emitted during site construction. We use a combination of field measurements over four years and remote sensing to quantify carbon accumulation at a large managed realignment site, Steart Marshes, UK. Sediment accumulated rapidly at Steart Marshes (mean of 75 mm yr-1) and had a high carbon content (4.4% total carbon, 2.2% total organic carbon), resulting in carbon accumulation of 36.6 t ha-1 yr-1 total carbon (19.4 t ha-1 yr-1 total organic carbon). This rate of carbon accumulation is an order of magnitude higher than reported in many other restored saltmarshes, and is somewhat higher than values previously reported from another hypertidal system (Bay of Fundy, Canada). The estimated carbon emissions associated with the construction of the site were ~2-4% of the observed carbon accumulation during the study period, supporting the view that managed realignment projects in such settings may have significant carbon accumulation benefits. However, uncertainties such as the origin of carbon (allochthonous or autochthonous) and changes in gas fluxes need to be resolved to move towards a full carbon budget for saltmarsh restoration.

Graphite forms the endpoint for organic carbon metamorphism; it is extremely resilient to physical, biological and chemical degradation. Carbonaceous materials (CM) contained within sediments, collected across Taiwan and from the Gaoping submarine canyon, were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy to determine the crystallinity. This allowed the erosional and orogenic movements of petrogenic organic carbon (OCpetro) during the Taiwanese orogeny to be deduced. After automatically fitting and classifying spectra, the distribution of four groups of CM within the sediments provides evidence that many forms of OCpetro have survived at least one previous cycle of erosion, transport and burial before forming rocks in the Western Foothills of the island. There is extensive detrital graphite present in rocks that have not experienced high-grade metamorphism, and graphite flakes are also found in recently deposited marine sediments off Taiwan. The tectonic and geological history of the island shows that these graphite flakes must have survived at least three episodes of recycling. Therefore, transformation to graphite during burial and orogeny is a mechanism for stabilizing organic carbon over geological time, removing biospheric carbon from the active carbon cycle and protecting it from oxidation during future erosion events.

Graphite forms the endpoint for organic carbon metamorphism; it is extremely resilient to physical, biological and chemical degradation. Carbonaceous materials (CM) contained within sediments, collected across Taiwan and from the Gaoping submarine canyon, were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy to determine the crystallinity. This allowed the erosional and orogenic movements of petrogenic organic carbon (OCpetro) during the Taiwanese orogeny to be deduced. After automatically fitting and classifying spectra, the distribution of four groups of CM within the sediments provides evidence that many forms of OCpetro have survived at least one previous cycle of erosion, transport and burial before forming rocks in the Western Foothills of the island. There is extensive detrital graphite present in rocks that have not experienced high-grade metamorphism, and graphite flakes are also found in recently deposited marine sediments off Taiwan. The tectonic and geological history of the island shows that these graphite flakes must have survived at least three episodes of recycling. Therefore, transformation to graphite during burial and orogeny is a mechanism for stabilizing organic carbon over geological time, removing biospheric carbon from the active carbon cycle and protecting it from oxidation during future erosion events.

Warming-induced erosion of permafrost from Eastern Siberia mobilises large amounts of organic carbon and delivers it to the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS). In this study Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material (CM) was used to characterise, identify and track the most recalcitrant fraction of the organic load: 1463 spectra were obtained from surface sediments collected across the ESAS and automatically analysed for their Raman peaks. Spectra were classified by their peak areas and widths into disordered, intermediate, mildly graphitised and highly graphitised groups and the distribution of these classes was investigated across the shelf. Disordered CM was most prevalent in a permafrost core from Kurungnakh Island and from areas known to have high rates of coastal erosion. Sediments from outflows of the Indigirka and Kolyma rivers were generally enriched in intermediate CM. These different sediment sources were identified and distinguished along an E-W transect using their Raman spectra, showing that sediment is not homogenised on the ESAS. Distal samples, from the ESAS slope, contained greater amounts of highly graphitised CM compared to the rest of the shelf, attributable to degradation or, more likely, winnowing processes offshore. The presence of all four spectral classes in distal sediments demonstrates that CM degrades much more slowly than lipid biomarkers and other traditional tracers of terrestrial organic matter and shows that alongside degradation of the more labile organic matter component there is also conservative transport of carbon across the shelf toward the deep ocean. Thus, carbon cycle calculations must consider the nature as well as the amount of carbon liberated from thawing permafrost and other erosional settings.

These text files contain x,y data representing the wavenumber and intensity of light collected by a Renishaw inVia spectrometer. The data forms the basis for a paper submitted to The Cryosphere entitled "Carbonaceous material export from Siberian permafrost tracked across the Arctic Shelf using Raman spectroscopy"

This script was used to fit Raman spectra for the manuscript "Carbonaceous material export from Siberian permafrost tracked across the Arctic Shelf using Raman spectroscopy"

This spreadsheet contains the parameters fitted Raman spectra. Peak locations, heights, widths and areas are given, along with recognised area and height ratios and interpreted graphite burial temperatures. Spectra were fitted according to the procedure described in "Automated Analysis of Carbon in Powdered Geological and Environmental Samples by Raman Spectroscopy", by Sparkes et al., Applied Spectroscopy, 2013

This PDF file contains fitted Raman spectra. Each page of the document represents an individual spectrum. Spectra were fitted according to the procedure described in "Automated Analysis of Carbon in Powdered Geological and Environmental Samples by Raman Spectroscopy", by Sparkes et al., Applied Spectroscopy, 2013

© Author(s) 2018. Warming-induced erosion of permafrost from Eastern Siberia mobilises large amounts of organic carbon and delivers it to the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS). In this study Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material (CM) was used to characterise, identify and track the most recalcitrant fraction of the organic load: 1463 spectra were obtained from surface sediments collected across the ESAS and automatically analysed for their Raman peaks. Spectra were classified by their peak areas and widths into disordered, intermediate, mildly graphitised and highly graphitised groups and the distribution of these classes was investigated across the shelf. Disordered CM was most prevalent in a permafrost core from Kurungnakh Island and from areas known to have high rates of coastal erosion. Sediments from outflows of the Indigirka and Kolyma rivers were generally enriched in intermediate CM. These different sediment sources were identified and distinguished along an E-W transect using their Raman spectra, showing that sediment is not homogenised on the ESAS. Distal samples, from the ESAS slope, contained greater amounts of highly graphitised CM compared to the rest of the shelf, attributable to degradation or, more likely, winnowing processes offshore. The presence of all four spectral classes in distal sediments demonstrates that CM degrades much more slowly than lipid biomarkers and other traditional tracers of terrestrial organic matter and shows that alongside degradation of the more labile organic matter component there is also conservative transport of carbon across the shelf toward the deep ocean. Thus, carbon cycle calculations must consider the nature as well as the amount of carbon liberated from thawing permafrost and other erosional settings.