Aliphatic lipids in recent sediments of the Fram Strait/Yermak Plateau (Arctic Ocean)

Bulk geochemical parameters (TOC-content, d13Corg) were also determined, including additional samples nearby. Enhanced organic carbon contents of up to 1.6% along the western slope of the Yermak Plateau and north off Spitsbergen, corroborated by an average d13Corg value of -22.3 per mil, indicated most of the organic material to be of a marine origin, despite ice-cover.

The extractable aliphatic lipids contributed up to 1% of the sedimentary organic carbon and were dominated by fatty acids (0.7-9.1 mg/g TOC), whereas n-alkanes and n-alkanols contributed only minor amounts (0.1-0.4 mg/g TOC). The detailed molecular and carbon isotopic characterisation of the studied aliphatic compounds enabled assignments of most components to three lipid pools, representing: (a) primary production (marine phytoplankton, sea-ice algae), (b) secondary inputs (by feeding of zooplankton, benthic organisms and bacteria on the former) and (c) terrestrial-derived contributions.