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Preservation of organic matter during salinity excursions

Nature volume 339, pages 271–274 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

Sediment in a core recovered from the western Mediterranean contains anomalously high concentrations of dissolved strontium, calcium, chloride and sulphate. These unusual results mirror the effects of early diagenesis in evaporitic basins, and a new model is proposed to explain anomalies in the accumulation of organic carbon and its isotopic composition. Such anomalies may result from increased but preferential preservation of organics brought about by changes in the microbial community during salinity excursions. It follows that the down-core record of sapropel formation in the Mediterranean contains a history of bottom-water salinity excursions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    G. P. Klinkhammer

  2. Centre des Faibles Radioactivities (CNRS-CEA), F-91190, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France

    C. E. Lambert

Authors
  1. G. P. Klinkhammer
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  2. C. E. Lambert
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Klinkhammer, G., Lambert, C. Preservation of organic matter during salinity excursions. Nature 339, 271–274 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/339271a0

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