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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 55(3)

Characterisation of sedimentary organic matter from three south-eastern Australian estuaries using solid-state 13 C-NMR techniques

C. J. Golding A C , R. J. Smernik B and G. F. Birch A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

B Soil and Land Systems, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, Urrbrae, SA 5064, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: cgolding@geosci.usyd.edu.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 55(3) 285-293 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF03167
Submitted: 23 September 2003  Accepted: 19 March 2004   Published: 19 May 2004

Abstract

Solid state 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to characterise sedimentary organic matter sampled from three estuaries on the central New South Wales coast (Australia). Cross polarisation (CP) and Bloch decay (BD) experiments were used to determine the chemical composition of the samples. These experiments indicated that, although the natural organic matter is predominately terrestrial in origin, the proportion of carbon existing as aromatic carbon, distinctive of vascular plants, decreases towards the mouth of the estuaries. This suggests that the relative contribution of terrestrial and marine source material largely defines the character of estuarine organic matter. Substantial amounts of charcoal were identified in sedimentary organic matter close to recent bushfire activity. Proton-spin relaxation editing (PSRE) was used to probe the physical structure of the sedimentary organic matter at the sub-micron scale. This technique showed that the organic matter was heterogeneous, providing support for a popular model of sedimentary organic matter structure. However, detailed interpretation of the domain structure of the organic matter was hindered by the presence of multiple components from both terrestrial and marine sources.

Extra keywords: Bloch decay; cross polarisation; proton-spin relaxation editing.


Acknowledgments

This research was completed while G. F. B. was in receipt of an ARC Linkage Grant: we gratefully acknowledge this financial assistance. Estuary maps were provided by Andrew Heap of Geoscience Australia. Thanks to Tom Savage and Kevin Davies from the University of Sydney for their valuable advice.


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