Source characterization of sedimentary organic matter in a tropical estuary, southwest coast of India: a biomarker approach
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The source, fate and diagentic pathway of sedimentary organic matter in\nestuaries are difficult to delineate due to the complexity of organic matter\nsources, intensive physical mixing and biological processes. A combination of\nbulk organic matter techniques and molecular biomarkers are found to be\nsuccessful in explaining organic matter dynamics in estuaries. The basic\nrequirement for these multi-proxy approaches are (i) sources have significantly\ndiffering characteristics, (ii) there are a sufficient number of tracers to delineate\nall sources and (iii) organic matter degradation and processing have little,\nsimilar or predictable effects on end member characteristics.\nAlthough there have been abundant researches that have attempted to\ntackle difficulties related to the source and fate of organic matter in\nestuarine systems, our understanding remains limited or rather inconsistent\nregarding the Indian estuaries. Cochin estuary is the largest among many\nextensive estuarine systems along the southwest coast of India. It supports\nas much biological productivity and diversity as tropical rain forests. In this\nstudy, we have used a combination of bulk geochemical parameters and\ndifferent group of molecular biomarkers to define organic matter sources\nand thereby identifying various biogeochemical processes acting along the\nsalinity gradient of the Cochin estuary
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2139654338