Chemotaxonomic significance of distribution and stable carbon isotopic composition of long-chain alkanes and alkan-1-ols in C4 grass waxes

Rommerskirchen, Florian; Plader, Anna; Eglinton, G.; Chikaraishi, Yoshito; Rullkötter, Jürgen

doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2005.12.013

Cited by 252 publications

(196 citation statements)

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“…Studies within this region as well as in other areas of Africa revealed that these vegetation types showed differences in their nalkane composition (Rommerskirchen et al, 2006;Vogts et al, 2009;Carr, 2012Herrmann et al, 2016; map in Fig. 2).…”

Section: Vegetation In the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 86%

Southern Hemisphere anticyclonic circulation drives oceanic and climatic conditions in late Holocene southernmost Africa

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Due to the high sensitivity of southern Africa to climate change, a reliable understanding of its hydrological system is crucial. Recent studies of the regional climatic system have revealed a highly complex interplay of forcing factors on precipitation regimes. This includes the influence of the tropical easterlies, the strength of the southern hemispheric westerlies as well as sea surface temperatures along the coast of the subcontinent. However, very few marine records have been available in order to study the coupling of marine and atmospheric circulation systems. Here we present results from a marine sediment core, recovered in shallow waters off the Gouritz River mouth on the south coast of South Africa. Core GeoB18308-1 allows a closer view of the last ∼ 4 kyr. Climate sensitive organic proxies, like the distribution and isotopic composition of plant-wax lipids as well as indicators for sea surface temperatures and soil input, give information on oceanographic and hydrologic changes during the recorded time period. Moreover, the micropaleontology, mineralogical and elemental composition of the sediments reflect the variability of the terrigenous input to the core site. The combination of down-core sediment signatures and a catchment-wide provenance study indicate that the Little Ice Age (∼ 300-650 cal yr BP) was characterized by climatic conditions favorable to torrential flood events. The Medieval Climate Anomaly (∼ 950-650 cal yr BP) is expressed by lower sea surface temperatures in the Mossel Bay area and humid conditions in the Gouritz River catchment.These new results suggest that the coincidence of humid conditions and cooler sea surface temperatures along the south coast of South Africa resulted from a strengthened and more southerly anticyclonic circulation. Most probably, the transport of moisture from the Indian Ocean by strong subtropical easterlies was coupled with Agulhas Bank upwelling pulses, which were initiated by an increase in Agulhas Current strength.

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Section: Vegetation In the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 86%

Southern Hemisphere anticyclonic circulation drives oceanic and climatic conditions in late Holocene southernmost Africa

et al. 2017

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“…Forest fires covering small areas and short duration are also common in Tanzania, with highest frequency in dry season. Recent studies on land cover and cropland distribution reported that larger areas of East Africa, where Tanzania is located, are covered with tropical grasses, deciduous tropical forest, shrubs and woodlands (Still et al, 2003;Rommerskirchen et al, 2006;Vogts et al, 2009). Most southern African countries are characterized by savanna ecosystems, and the main vegetation types in Madagascar and Mozambique (possible source regions of air masses) are tropical forest, woodlands and shrubs (Arino et al, 2008).…”

Section: Relations Between Biomass-burning Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contributions of biomass/biofuel burning to organic aerosols and particulate matter in Tanzania, East Africa, based on analyses of ionic species, organic and elemental carbon, levoglucosan and mannosan

2013

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Abstract. Atmospheric aerosol samples of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were collected at a rural site in Tanzania, East Africa, in 2011 during wet and dry seasons and were analysed for carbonaceous components, levoglucosan, mannosan and watersoluble inorganic ions. The contributions of biomass/biofuel burning to the organic carbon (OC) and particulate matter (PM) mass were estimated to be 46-52 % and 8-13 %, respectively. The mean mass concentrations of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were 28 ± 6 µg m −3 and 47 ± 8 µg m −3 in wet season, and 39 ± 10 µg m −3 and 61 ± 19µg m −3 in dry season, respectively. Total carbon (TC) accounted for 16-19 % of the PM 2.5 mass and 13-15 % of the PM 10 mass. On average, 86 to 89 % of TC in PM 2.5 and 87 to 90 % of TC in PM 10 was OC, of which 67-72 % and 63 % was found to be water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) in PM 2.5 and PM 10 , respectively. We found that concentrations of levoglucosan and mannosan (specific organic tracers of pyrolysis of cellulose) well correlated with non-sea-salt potassium (nss-K + ) (r 2 = 0.56-0.75), OC (r 2 = 0.75-0.96) and WSOC (r 2 = 0.52-0.78). The K + / OC ratios varied from 0.06 to 0.36 in PM 2.5 and from 0.03 to 0.36 in PM 10 with slightly higher ratios in dry season. Mean percent ratios of levoglucosan and mannosan to OC were found to be 3-4 % for PM 2.5 and PM 10 in both seasons. We found lower levoglucosan / K + ratios and higher K + / EC (elemental carbon) ratios in the biomass-burning aerosols from Tanzania than those reported from other regions. This feature is consistent with the high levels of potassium reported in the soils of Morogoro, Tanzania, suggesting an importance of direct emission of potassium by soil resuspension although K + is present mostly in fine particles. It is also likely that biomass burning of vegetation of Tanzania emits high levels of potassium that may be enriched in plant tissues. The present study demonstrates that emissions from mixed biomass-and biofuel-burning activities largely influence the air quality in Tanzania.

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“…While grasses can be excluded since they contain heavier components than those here [e.g. C 31 /C 33 n-alkanes predominant (Rommerskirchen et al, 2006)], helophytes provide the same type of long chain compounds as trees (Barnes and Barnes, 1978;Cranwell, 1984).…”

Section: Non-hopanoidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial mat development and dolomite formation under pre-evaporitic conditions during the Atlantic in a temperate area: The Sarliève Lake (French Massif Central)

Disnar

Stefanova

Bréhéret

et al. 2011

Organic Geochemistry

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The Sarliève marsh in the Limagne plain, in the heart of the French Massif Central, functioned as an endorheic lake during the Late Glacial and the Early and Middle Holocene. During the Late Boreal and the Atlantic it experienced drastic lowering of the water level as a result of dry and warm climatic episodes. Then, pre-evaporitic conditions triggered the deposition of sediment rich in organic matter (OM) and in carbonates including dolomite. Fifty one samples from a ca. 1.8 m sediment core section covering the period were analysed using Rock-Eval pyrolysis and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Throughout the interval, the organic matter content remained notable to high [up to 13.35% total organic carbon (TOC)] and of good quality as indicated by low Oxygen Index (OI) values (<200mg. CO 2 g -1 TOC) and high Hydrogen Index (HI) values (160-660 mg HC g -1 ) which, as a rule, increased with increasing TOC content.In contrast to the acid fractions, which sometimes contained notable proportions of n-C 16 or n-C 18 fatty acids (FAs; analysed as the methyl esters, FAMEs), the neutral fractions were almost devoid of low molecular weight compounds. The latter were probably biodegraded during early diagenesis. Conversely, high molecular weight compounds were abundant in both fractions and were dominated by n-alkanols, n-alkanes, steroids and hopanoids in the neutrals and even- suggest that all the hopanoids derive from the same microbial precursors, slight shifts in the acid/alcohol ratio being governed by limited changes in redox conditions during early diagenesis.

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Chemotaxonomic significance of distribution and stable carbon isotopic composition of long-chain alkanes and alkan-1-ols in C4 grass waxes

Cited by 252 publications

References 84 publications

Southern Hemisphere anticyclonic circulation drives oceanic and climatic conditions in late Holocene southernmost Africa

Southern Hemisphere anticyclonic circulation drives oceanic and climatic conditions in late Holocene southernmost Africa

Contributions of biomass/biofuel burning to organic aerosols and particulate matter in Tanzania, East Africa, based on analyses of ionic species, organic and elemental carbon, levoglucosan and mannosan

Microbial mat development and dolomite formation under pre-evaporitic conditions during the Atlantic in a temperate area: The Sarliève Lake (French Massif Central)

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