Improved end-member characterisation of modern organic matter pools in the Ohrid Basin (Albania, Macedonia) and evaluation of new palaeoenvironmental proxies
We present elemental, lipid biomarker and, in the supplement, compound-specific isotope (<i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C, <i>δ</i><sup>2</sup>H) data for soils and leaf litter collected in the catchment of Lake Ohrid (Albania, Macedonia), as well as macrophyte...
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doaj-8626d5bbc3eb41cda962dca26c4080c62020-11-24T21:10:28ZengCopernicus PublicationsBiogeosciences1726-41701726-41892016-02-0113379581610.5194/bg-13-795-2016Improved end-member characterisation of modern organic matter pools in the Ohrid Basin (Albania, Macedonia) and evaluation of new palaeoenvironmental proxiesJ. Holtvoeth0D. Rushworth1H. Copsey2A. Imeri3M. Cara4H. Vogel5T. Wagner6G. A. Wolff7Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UKDepartment of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UKSchool of Chemistry, Organic Geochemistry Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKFaculty of Agriculture and Environment, Agricultural University of Tirana, Tirana, AlbaniaFaculty of Agriculture and Environment, Agricultural University of Tirana, Tirana, AlbaniaInstitute of Geological Sciences & Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandSchool of Civil Engineering & Geosciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UKDepartment of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UKWe present elemental, lipid biomarker and, in the supplement, compound-specific isotope (<i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C, <i>δ</i><sup>2</sup>H) data for soils and leaf litter collected in the catchment of Lake Ohrid (Albania, Macedonia), as well as macrophytes, particulate organic matter and sediments from the lake itself. Lake Ohrid provides an outstanding archive of continental environmental change of at least 1.2 million years and the purpose of our study is to ground truth organic geochemical proxies that we developed in order to study past changes in the terrestrial biome. We show that soils dominate the lipid signal of the lake sediments rather than the vegetation or aquatic biomass. There is a strong imprint of suberin monomers on the composition of total lipid extracts and chain-length distributions of <i>n</i>-alkanoic acids, <i>n</i>-alcohols, <i>ω</i>-hydroxy acids and <i>α</i>, <i>ω</i>-dicarboxylic acids. Our end-member survey identifies that ratios of mid-chain length suberin-derived to long-chain length cuticular-derived alkyl compounds as well as their average chain length distributions can be used as new molecular proxies of organic matter sources to the lake. We tested these for the 8.2 ka event, a pronounced and widespread Holocene climate fluctuation. In SE Europe climate became drier and cooler in response to the event, as is clearly recognisable in the carbonate and organic carbon records of Lake Ohrid sediments. Our new proxies indicate biome modification in response to hydrological changes, identifying two phases of increased soil organic matter (OM) supply, first from soils with moderately degraded OM and then from more degraded soils. Our study demonstrates that geochemical fingerprinting of terrestrial OM should focus on the main lipid sources, rather than the living biomass. Both can exhibit climate-controlled variability, but are generally not identical.http://www.biogeosciences.net/13/795/2016/bg-13-795-2016.pdf |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
J. Holtvoeth D. Rushworth H. Copsey A. Imeri M. Cara H. Vogel T. Wagner G. A. Wolff |
spellingShingle |
J. Holtvoeth D. Rushworth H. Copsey A. Imeri M. Cara H. Vogel T. Wagner G. A. Wolff Improved end-member characterisation of modern organic matter pools in the Ohrid Basin (Albania, Macedonia) and evaluation of new palaeoenvironmental proxies Biogeosciences |
author_facet |
J. Holtvoeth D. Rushworth H. Copsey A. Imeri M. Cara H. Vogel T. Wagner G. A. Wolff |
author_sort |
J. Holtvoeth |
title |
Improved end-member characterisation of modern organic matter pools in the Ohrid Basin (Albania, Macedonia) and evaluation of new palaeoenvironmental proxies |
title_short |
Improved end-member characterisation of modern organic matter pools in the Ohrid Basin (Albania, Macedonia) and evaluation of new palaeoenvironmental proxies |
title_full |
Improved end-member characterisation of modern organic matter pools in the Ohrid Basin (Albania, Macedonia) and evaluation of new palaeoenvironmental proxies |
title_fullStr |
Improved end-member characterisation of modern organic matter pools in the Ohrid Basin (Albania, Macedonia) and evaluation of new palaeoenvironmental proxies |
title_full_unstemmed |
Improved end-member characterisation of modern organic matter pools in the Ohrid Basin (Albania, Macedonia) and evaluation of new palaeoenvironmental proxies |
title_sort |
improved end-member characterisation of modern organic matter pools in the ohrid basin (albania, macedonia) and evaluation of new palaeoenvironmental proxies |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
series |
Biogeosciences |
issn |
1726-4170 1726-4189 |
publishDate |
2016-02-01 |
description |
We present elemental, lipid biomarker and, in the supplement, compound-specific isotope (<i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C, <i>δ</i><sup>2</sup>H) data for soils and leaf litter collected in the
catchment of Lake Ohrid (Albania, Macedonia), as well as macrophytes,
particulate organic matter and sediments from the lake itself. Lake Ohrid
provides an outstanding archive of continental environmental change of at
least 1.2 million years and the purpose of our study is to ground truth organic
geochemical proxies that we developed in order to study past changes in the
terrestrial biome. We show that soils dominate the lipid signal of the lake
sediments rather than the vegetation or aquatic biomass. There is a strong
imprint of suberin monomers on the composition of total lipid extracts and
chain-length distributions of <i>n</i>-alkanoic acids, <i>n</i>-alcohols, <i>ω</i>-hydroxy
acids and <i>α</i>, <i>ω</i>-dicarboxylic acids. Our end-member survey
identifies that ratios of mid-chain length suberin-derived to long-chain
length cuticular-derived alkyl compounds as well as their average chain
length distributions can be used as new molecular proxies of organic matter
sources to the lake. We tested these for the 8.2 ka event, a pronounced and
widespread Holocene climate fluctuation. In SE Europe climate became drier
and cooler in response to the event, as is clearly recognisable in the
carbonate and organic carbon records of Lake Ohrid sediments. Our new
proxies indicate biome modification in response to hydrological changes,
identifying two phases of increased soil organic matter (OM) supply, first from soils with
moderately degraded OM and then from more degraded soils. Our study
demonstrates that geochemical fingerprinting of terrestrial OM should focus
on the main lipid sources, rather than the living biomass. Both can exhibit
climate-controlled variability, but are generally not identical. |
url |
http://www.biogeosciences.net/13/795/2016/bg-13-795-2016.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv |
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