Distribution and Sources of Organic Matter in Surface Sediments of the Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas by Using Bulk and Tetraether Proxies.

The organic matter (OM) preserved in Arctic Ocean sediments is of great importance to the global carbon budget. However, works that apply multiple proxies to determine the distribution and concentration of organic carbon (OC) in the surface sediments of the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas remain limited. Here a multiproxy approach based on bulk OM parameters and the branched vs. isoprenoid tetraether (BIT) index was used to investigate the distribution and sources of OM in the surface sediments of the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas. Binary and ternary mixing models were applied to trace the contribution of different OC sources to the total OC in the study area. The δ¹³C values of the sediments provided by the binary model showed that the proportion of terrestrial OC fell in the range of 27.4%−79.8% (46.2% on average). The BIT index returned the lowest fraction (4.8%−27.3%, 12.0% on average). The ternary mixing model was employed to determine the plant-, soil-, and marine-derived fractions of the total OM. The ternary model showed that 11.5%±6.3%, 31.4%±9.5%, and 57.1%±12.4% of OM in the sediment of the study area was derived from soil, plants, and marine sources, respectively. The differences in OM composition between the west and east sides of the Chukchi Sea were controlled by OM inputs from key water masses (i.e., Anadyr Water and Alaska Coastal Water), river discharge, and the nutrient supply from the Pacific inflow that supports marine productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]