6533b862fe1ef96bd12c7517

RESEARCH PRODUCT

A sugar biomarker proxy for assessing terrestrial versus aquatic sedimentary input

Tobias AnhäuserBruno GlaserFrank SirockoChristian LaforschMichael ZechMichael ZechMax RabusJohannes HeppJohannes HeppTobias Bromm

subject

010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciencesbiologyXylose010502 geochemistry & geophysicsbiology.organism_classification01 natural sciencesPaleolimnologyFucosechemistry.chemical_compoundAlgaechemistryGeochemistry and PetrologyAquatic plantBotanySedimentary organic matterSugarRelative species abundance0105 earth and related environmental sciences

description

Abstract One of the most important and at the same time most challenging issues in paleolimnological research is the differentiation between terrestrial and aquatic sedimentary organic matter (OM). We therefore investigated the relative abundance of the sugars fucose (fuc), arabinose (ara) and xylose (xyl) from various terrestrial and aquatic plants, as well as from algal samples. Algae were characterized by a higher abundance of fucose than vascular plants. Our results and a compilation of data from the literature suggest that fuc/(ara + xyl) and (fuc + xyl)/ara ratios may serve as complementary proxies in paleolimnological studies for distinguishing between terrestrial and aquatic sedimentary OM.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2016-08-01Organic Geochemistry
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2016.05.012