Skip to Main Content
Skip Nav Destination
GEOREF RECORD

Lateral transport controls distribution, quality, and burial of organic matter along continental slopes in high-productivity areas

Maik Inthorn, Thomas Wagner, Georg Scheeder and Matthias Zabel
Lateral transport controls distribution, quality, and burial of organic matter along continental slopes in high-productivity areas
Geology (Boulder) (March 2006) 34 (3): 205-208

Abstract

In this study we demonstrate the relevance of lateral particle transport in nepheloid layers for organic carbon (OC) accumulation and burial across high-productive continental margins. We present geochemical data from surface sediments and suspended particles in the bottom nepheloid layer (BNL) from the most productive coastal upwelling area of the modern ocean, the Benguela upwelling system offshore southwest Africa. Interpretation of depositional patterns and comparison of downslope trends in OC content, organic matter composition, and (super 14) C age between suspended particles and surface sediments indicate that lateral particle transport is the primary mechanism controlling supply and burial of OC. We propose that effective seaward particle transport primarily along the BNL is a key process that promotes and maintains local high sedimentation rates, ultimately causing high preservation of OC in a depocenter on the upper slope offshore Namibia. As lateral transport efficiently displaces areas of enhanced OC burial from maximum production at highly productive continental margins, vertical particle flux models do not sufficiently explain the relationship between primary production and shallow-marine OC burial. On geologic time scales, the widest distribution and strongest intensity of lateral particle transport is expected during periods of rapid sea-level change. At times in the geologic past, widespread downslope lateral transport of OC thus may have been a primary driver of enhanced OC burial at deeper continental slopes and abyssal basins.


ISSN: 0091-7613
EISSN: 1943-2682
Coden: GLGYBA
Serial Title: Geology (Boulder)
Serial Volume: 34
Serial Issue: 3
Title: Lateral transport controls distribution, quality, and burial of organic matter along continental slopes in high-productivity areas
Affiliation: University of Bremen, Geosciences, Bremen, Federal Republic of Germany
Pages: 205-208
Published: 200603
Text Language: English
Publisher: Geological Society of America (GSA), Boulder, CO, United States
References: 26
Accession Number: 2006-028135
Categories: Oceanography
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Annotation: With GSA Data Repository Item 2006038; Univ. Bremen, Contrib. No. 351
Illustration Description: illus. incl. block diag., sketch map
S35°00'00" - N37°00'00", W18°00'00" - E51°00'00"
Secondary Affiliation: University of Newcastle, GBR, United KingdomBundesanstalt fuer Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), DEU, Federal Republic of Germany
Country of Publication: United States
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2017, American Geosciences Institute. Reference includes data supplied by the Geological Society of America, Boulder, CO, United States
Update Code: 200615
Close Modal

or Create an Account

Close Modal
Close Modal