title: Organic geochemistry of sediments from the continental margin off southern New England, U.S.A.--Part I.  Amino acids, carbohydrates and lignin.
abstract: Total organic carbon (TOC), lignin, amino acids, sugars and amino sugars were measured in recent sediments for the continental margin off southern New England.  The various organic carbon fractions decreased in concentration with increasing distance from shore.  The fraction of the TOC that was accounted for by these major components also decreased with increasing distance from shore.  The concentration of lignin indicated that only about 3-5% of the organic carbon in the nearshore sediment was of terrestrial origin.  The various fractions were highly correlated, which was consistent with a simple linear mixing model of shelf organic matter with material form the slope and rise and indicated a significant transport of sediment from the continental shelf to the continental slope and rise.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles 90024, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Venkatesan
authors.forename: I R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Kaplan
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D000606:Amino Sugars / Q000032:analysis; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis*; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D005844:Geology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008031:Lignin / Q000032:analysis*; D016014:Linear Models; D009511:New England
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D000606:Amino Sugars; D002241:Carbohydrates; D002244:Carbon; D008031:Lignin