Organic carbon source and burial during the past one hundred years inJiaozhou Bay, North China
LI Xuegang , YUAN Huamao , LI Ning , SONG Jinming
DOI:
Received July 31, 2007,Revised November 13, 2007, Accepted , Available online
Volume 20,2008,Pages 551-557
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Organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), and 210Pb in core sediment were measured to quantify the burial of organic carbon and
the relative importance of allochthonous and autochthonous contributions during the past one hundred years in Jiaozhou Bay, North
China. The core sediment was dated using 210Pb chronology, which is the most promising method for estimation of sedimentation rate
on a time scale of 100–150 years. The variation of the burial flux of organic carbon in the past one hundred years can be divided into
the following three stages: (1) relatively steady before 1980s; (2) increasing rapidly from the 1980s to a peak in the 1990s, and (3)
decreasing from the 1990s to the present. The change is consistent with the amount of solid waste and sewage emptied into the bay.
The OC:TN ratio was used to evaluate the source of organic carbon in the Jiaozhou Bay sediment. In the inner bay and bay mouth,
the organic carbon was the main contributor from terrestrial sources, whereas only about half of organic carbon was contributed from
terrestrial source in the outer bay. In the inner bay, the terrestrial source of organic carbon showed a steady change with an increase in
the range of 69%–77% before 1990 to 93% in 2000, and then decreased from 2000 because of the decrease in the terrestrial input. In
the bay mouth, the percentage of organic carbon from land reached the highest value with 94% in 1994. In the outer bay, the sediment
source maintained steady for the past one hundred years.
