Radiocarbon ages of sterols and of total organic carbon from Weddell Sea and Gerlache Strait sediments

It has, however, not been possible to extend this work to numerous samples of interest from the Greenpeace Trough and the region of the Larsen Ice Shelf. Of 38 samples analyzed, 26 contained less than 0.05 ppm sterols (ppm = ug sterol/g dry sediment) and only six contained more than the practical threshold of 0.3 ppm.

All of the latter were from core tops and thus not important targets for dating. In contrast, samples from temperate and tropical latitudes with ages up to 250,000 years rarely contain less than 1 ppm and frequently contain more than 10 ppm sterols. Low concentrations of appropriate biomarkers are a major problem in Antarctic sediments.