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Iron, sulfur, and carbon diagenesis in sediments of Tomales Bay, California

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Abstract

Analysis of 3-m sediment cores revealed that profiles of carbon (C), sulfur (S), and iron (Fe) varied with relative distance from marine and terrestrial sediment sources in Tomales Bay California. Despite relatively high sedimentation rates throughout the bay (historically 3–30 mm yr−1), sulfate reduction of deposited organic matter led to free-sulfide accumulation in sediments only at the location farthest from terrestrial runoff, the source of reactive iron. Acid-volatile sulfide concentrations in all sediments (<10 μmol g−1) were low relative to concentrations of chromiumreducible sulfide (up to 400 μmol g−1 farthest from the reactive iron source). A calculated index of iron availability, used to describe sediment resistance to build-up of free sulfide, was lowest at this location. Recent, upward shifts in reactive Fe concentration and in the relative contribution of terrestrial orgnic carbon (measured as a shift in δ13C of bulk sediment organic matter) in all cores indicated that erosion and transport of sediments from the watershed surrounding Tomales Bay increased after European settlement in the 1850s.

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Source of Unpublished Materials

  • Sansone, F. J. personal communication. Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Fairfield University, 06430, Fairfield, Connecticut

    R. M. Chambers

  2. Department of Marine Science, University of Georgia, 30602, Athens, Georgia

    J. Hollibaugh

  3. Center for Environmental Studies, San Francisco State University, 94920, Tiburon, California

    C. S. Snively

  4. Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, 96822, Honolulu, Hawaii

    J. N. Plant

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  1. R. M. Chambers
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  2. J. Hollibaugh
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  3. C. S. Snively
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  4. J. N. Plant
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Correspondence to R. M. Chambers.

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Chambers, R.M., Hollibaugh, J., Snively, C.S. et al. Iron, sulfur, and carbon diagenesis in sediments of Tomales Bay, California. Estuaries 23, 1–9 (2000). https://doi.org/10.2307/1353220

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