Sources and diagenesis of organic matter in tidal flat sediments from the German Wadden Sea

The sources and diagenesis of organic matter in a sediment core from the Swinnplate backbarrier area near Spiekeroog Island in the northwest German Wadden Sea have been examined using stable carbon isotopes, 14C-ages and lipid biomarker data. Twenty-two core sections were analysed from the surface to a depth of 90 cm, representing sedimentation over the past approximately 200 years. Total organic carbon (TOC) contents were highly variable (0.1–1%), as was the grain size with some core sections containing up to 50% of clay and silt (mud fraction). These data indicate a highly variable depositional regime in which organic matter is extensively degraded both before and after incorporation into the sediments. The TOC content was strongly correlated with the abundance of the mud fraction, indicating the importance of organic matter sorption onto particles for preservation of both marine and terrestrial organic matter. Sediments near the top of the core were enriched in marine organic matter, but terrestrial organic matter predominated in most core sections. Some samples showed higher TOC contents than might be predicted from the TOC-grain size relationship. Isotope and biomarker studies showed that these contained additional terrestrial organic matter from peats, possibly eroded from areas to the west of the investigated area. The organic matter in these layers had the lightest values of δ13C (about −26‰ compared with a more typical mixed marine-terrestrial value of −24‰). Most of the n-alkane distributions show a strong predominance of odd-carbon-number alkanes typical of the distributions found in higher plant waxes. All core sections contained abundant long-chain alcohols and triterpenoid alcohols such as α-amyrin, β-amyrin, lupeol, taraxerol, taraxerone and friedelin from higher plants. The dihydroxy triterpenoid betulin was particularly abundant confirming that eroded peats are a major source of the lipids. Further confirmation was obtained from AMS-determined 14C-ages of fatty acid and neutral lipid fractions from 46.5 to 60 cm deep core sections which were 5570 and 6240 yr BP, respectively. These data attest to the importance of recycled older organic material (eroded peat) in the carbon cycle of this coastal environment.