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Radiocarbon evidence of fossil-carbon cycling in sediments of a nearshore hydrocarbon seep

Nature volume 348, pages 230–232 (1990)Cite this article

Abstract

WIDESPREAD seepage of petroleum and natural gas in the southern California continental borderland1–4 provides an opportunity to study the long-term fate and biogeochemical effects of hydrocarbons in nearshore sedimentary environments. The hydrocarbons that enrich seep sediments have been hypothesized to serve as a carbon and energy source for sediment metabolism and in-faunal populations5–9. Here we present 14C natural abundances in sediment total organic carbon (TOC), pore-water dissolved inorganic carbon (DIG) and infauna from in and around a hydrocarbon seep off southern California which were measured to help test this hypothesis. Concentrations of 14C in each pool reflect the admixture of fossil (14C-depleted) seep-derived carbon with carbon from the euphotic zone. The 14C depletion in TOC and DIC increased with proximity to the seepage zone and with sediment depth; 14C abundances differed between meiofauna and macrofauna, suggesting that the two groups incorporate fossil carbon in different ways. The results indicate that fossil carbon can indeed comprise a major component of these carbon pools in nearshore seep sediments.

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Author notes

  1. John S. Vogel & John R. Southon

    Present address: Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, 94550, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    James E. Bauer

  2. Environmental Sciences Division, University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, Cafifornia, 94550, USA

    Robert B. Spies

  3. Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, V5A 1S6

    John S. Vogel, D. Erle Nelson & John R. Southon

Authors
  1. James E. Bauer
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  2. Robert B. Spies
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  3. John S. Vogel
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  4. D. Erle Nelson
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  5. John R. Southon
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Bauer, J., Spies, R., Vogel, J. et al. Radiocarbon evidence of fossil-carbon cycling in sediments of a nearshore hydrocarbon seep. Nature 348, 230–232 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/348230a0

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