Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
9480586 | Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science | 2005 | 12 Pages |
Abstract
The distributions of sterols and organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) in five NW Adriatic Sea surface sediment samples were investigated. Samples are representative of areas differently influenced by freshwater inputs, mainly coming from the Po River. All the investigated samples exhibit the same suite of principal sterols, with cholest-5-en-3β-ol (cholesterol), 4α,23,24-trimethyl-5α-cholest-22E-en-3β-ol (dinosterol), 24-ethylcholest-5-en-3β-ol (sitosterol) and 24-methylcholesta-5,22E-dien-3β-ol (brassicasterol or epibrassicasterol) displaying the highest concentrations and relative abundances. The distribution of sterols in the samples is not related to their distance from the coast and/or with the C/N ratios and suggests a prevalent input of marine, autochthonous organic matter in the surface sediments. In particular, the high abundance of dinosterol underlines the importance of dinoflagellate productivity in this area and its contribution to the organic matter in sediments. However, absolute and relative abundances of dinosterol do not follow the trend observed for dinocyst concentrations in the investigated samples, with the exception of Spiniferites spp. cysts and cysts produced by Gonyaulax species.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
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Geology
Authors
Francesca Sangiorgi, Daniele Fabbri, Michela Comandini, Giovanni Gabbianelli, Emilio Tagliavini,