@article {2628,
	title = {Temporal deconvolution of vascular plant-derived fatty acids exported from terrestrial watersheds},
	journal = {Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta},
	volume = {244},
	year = {2019},
	month = {Jan-01-2019},
	pages = {502 - 521},
	abstract = {Relatively little is known about the amount of time that lapses between the photosynthetic fixation of carbon by vascular land plants and its incorporation into the marine sedimentary record, yet the dynamics of terrestrial carbon sequestration have important implications for the carbon cycle. Vascular plant carbon may encounter multiple potential intermediate storage pools and transport trajectories, and the age of vascular plant carbon accumulating in marine sediments will reflect these different pre-depositional histories. Here, we examine down-core C-14 profiles of higher plant leaf wax-derived fatty acids isolated from high fidelity sedimentary sequences spanning the so-called "bomb-spike", and encompassing a ca. 60-degree latitudinal gradient from tropical (Cariaco Basin), temperate (Saanich Inlet), and polar (Mackenzie Delta) watersheds to constrain integrated vascular plant carbon storage/transport times ("residence times").

Using a modeling framework, we find that, in addition to a "young" (conditionally defined as < 50 y) carbon pool, an old pool of compounds comprises 49 to 78 \% of the fractional contribution of organic carbon (OC) and exhibits variable ages reflective of the environmental setting. For the Mackenzie Delta sediments, we find a mean age of the old pool of 28 ky (+/- 9.4, standard deviation), indicating extensive pre-aging in permafrost soils, whereas the old pools in Saanich Inlet and Cariaco Basin sediments are younger, 7.9 (+/- 5.0) and 2.4 (+/- 0.50) to 3.2 (+/- 0.54) ky, respectively, indicating less protracted storage in terrestrial reservoirs. The "young" pool showed clear annual contributions for Saanich Inlet and Mackenzie Delta sediments (comprising 24\% and 16\% of this pool, respectively), likely reflecting episodic transport of OC from steep hillside slopes surrounding Saanich Inlet and annual spring flood deposition in the Mackenzie Delta, respectively. Contributions of 5-10 year old OC to the Cariaco Basin show a short delay of OC inflow, potentially related to transport time to the offshore basin. Modeling results also indicate that the Mackenzie Delta has an influx of young but decadal material (20-30 years of age), pointing to the presence of an intermediate reservoir.

Overall, these results show that a significant fraction of vascular plant C undergoes pre-aging in terrestrial reservoirs prior to accumulation in deltaic and marine sediments. The age distribution, reflecting both storage and transport times, likely depends on landscape-specific factors such as local topography, hydrographic characteristics, and mean annual temperature of the catchment, all of which affect the degree of soil buildup and preservation. We show that catchment-specific carbon residence times across landscapes can vary by an order of magnitude, with important implications both for carbon cycle studies and for the interpretation of molecular terrestrial paleoclimate records preserved in sedimentary sequences.},
	keywords = {british-columbia, CARIACO BASIN, compound-specific radiocarbon, MACKENZIE DELTA, marine-sediments, odp leg 169s, saanich inlet, SANTA-MONICA BASIN, SOIL ORGANIC-MATTER, TROPICAL VEGETATION},
	issn = {00167037},
	doi = {10.1016/j.gca.2018.09.034},
	url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016703718305702https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0016703718305702?httpAccept=text/xmlhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0016703718305702?httpAccept=text/plain},
	author = {Vonk, Jorien E. and Drenzek, Nicholas J. and Hughen, Konrad A. and Stanley, Rachel H.R. and McIntyre, Cameron and {\c c}on, Daniel B. and Giosan, Liviu and Southon, John R. and Santos, Guaciara M. and Druffel, Ellen R.M. and Andersson, August A. and {\"o}ld, Martin and Eglinton, Timothy I.}
}
@article {1899,
	title = {Diagenetic and sedimentological controls on the composition of organic matter preserved in California Borderland Basin sediments},
	journal = {Limnology and Oceanography},
	volume = {52},
	year = {2007},
	note = {149kgTimes Cited:43
Cited References Count:67
},
	month = {Mar},
	pages = {558-576},
	abstract = {Compound-specific radiocarbon (C-14) contents, stable carbon isotopes, and abundances of phytoplankton and vascular plant derived lipid biomarkers (alkenones and fatty acids) were obtained from Santa Barbara Basin and Santa Monica Basin sediments, along with radiocarbon contents of planktic foraminifera and total organic carbon. We investigated core-top and prebomb sediment intervals at sites from the flanks and depocenters of the basins deposited under contrasting bottom water oxygen concentrations. Bulk organic matter generally has the lowest radiocarbon levels of all sediment constituents measured, whereas planktic foraminifera tend to be the most radiocarbon enriched. Alkenones are systematically depleted in radiocarbon with respect to foraminifera. Short-chain (C-14, C-16, C-18) fatty acids decrease rapidly in absolute abundance and relative to longer-chain (> C-24) homologues from core-top to prebomb samples. The loss of short-chain fatty acids with depth is associated with C-13 depletion of short-chain fatty acids, indicating preferential preservation of terrestrially derived fatty acids. Short-chain fatty acids tend to be more C-14-enriched relative to alkenones in core-top sediments, whereas longer-chain homologues are generally the most radiocarbon depleted of the lipids studied here. Less refractory compounds (e.g., short-chain fatty acids) are thus enriched in radiocarbon with respect to more recalcitrant biomarkers (alkenones, long-chain fatty acids). The lower C-14 content of more refractory compounds reflects a larger proportion of laterally supplied, preaged material. Greater preservation of labile organic compounds observed at the depocenters than in flank sediments results in the presence of "younger" biomarkers, underlining the important influence of selective degradation of labile compounds on their radiocarbon ages.},
	keywords = {c-14 measurements, compound-specific radiocarbon, continental-margin, fatty-acids, marine-sediments, monica basin, oxic degradation, oxygen exposure time, santa-barbara basin, surface sediments},
	isbn = {0024-3590},
	doi = {10.4319/lo.2007.52.2.0558},
	author = {Mollenhauer, G. and Eglinton, T. I.}
}
