25th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry IMOG 2011

P-025
Construction of an organic geochemical database for marine
surface sediments
Timothy Eglinton 1,2 , Maria Luisa Tavagna 1 , David Griffith 2 , William Martin 2
1 ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, 2 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, United States of
America (corresponding author:timothy.eglinton@erdw.ethz.ch)
Information on organic geochemical properties of
sedimentary organic matter is rapidly expanding, both
in terms of the density and diversity of data. This
stems from increasingly streamlined analytical
methods, expanding analytical windows, and the
growing ability to determine multiple properties of
specific organic compounds. Both structural and
isotopic characteristics of sedimentary organic matter
can now be obtained at high spatial, temporal and
molecular resolution. While there have been
numerous detailed organic geochemical studies of
sediments from specific locations and depositional
settings, there has been less effort invested in
bringing this information together to explore
compositional characteristics of sedimentary organic
carbon over a range of spatial scales and within a
broader biogeochemical and sedimentological
context.
We are constructing a database containing bulk and
molecular-level geochemical information on organic
matter within marine surface sediments. The
database is biased towards continental margin
environments because of their disproportionately
large role in organic carbon burial. The database
includes information on bulk organic matter content,
elemental and isotopic composition, as well as
biomarker abundance, distribution and isotopic
composition. This information is placed in
geographic, depositional and biogeochemical context
in order to facilitate geospatial data analysis and
explore overarching controls on sedimentary organic
matter abundance and composition.
We will provide examples of the types of information
that are emerging from the database and will solicit
feedback on how the database can be improved and
expanded.
Figure 1. Example map showing current data
coverage for bulk organic carbon 14 C in surface
marine sediments.
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