Distribution of Organic Carbon in Surface Sediments of the Continental Shelf off the Indus Delta of Pakistan

Year 2018, Volume: 4 Issue: 2, 33 - 45, 03.12.2018

Athar Ali Khan , Rabea A. Haredy

Abstract

Surface sediments collected from the continental shelf off the Indus delta, Pakistan, were studied to determine the organic carbon content. The results suggest that textural characteristics influence the distribution of the organic carbon content in the sediments of the Indus shelf. The surface sediments of the Indus shelf are predominantly silt, silty clay and clayey silty sand. Generally, inner shelf sediments contain 50-70% silt and ~20% clay. A belt of coarser sediments containing >50% sand occurs in the North West outer shelf region. The fine clay content in the sediments increases with depth, from 20% at the Indus river mouth to 60% at the continental slope region. Sediments of the Indus shelf contain a relatively high (~1.0%) content of organic carbon, and their distribution indicates textural influence. The coarse, silty sediments (50-70% silt) have a low organic carbon content of <1.0%. The fine-grained clayey sediments (20-40% clay) are characterized by relatively high (1-2%) organic carbon content. The highest organic carbon content of 2-3% occurs in fine-grained sediments of the outer shelf and the continental slope area, where 60% of the sediments are clayey sediments.

Keywords

Organic Carbon, Surface Sediments, Texture, Indus Continental Shelf

References

• Calvert, S.E., (1987). Oceanographic controls on the accumulation of organic matter in marine sediments In: “Marine Petroleum source Rocks”. (J. Brooks & A.J. Fleet, eds), Geol. Soc. Spec. Publication, 26: 137-151.
• Pedersen, T.F., Calvert, S.E., (1990). Anoxia vs productivity: what controls the formation of organic-rich sediments and sedimentary rocks? Am. Assoc. Petrol Geol. Bull. 74: 454–466.
• Calvert, S.E., Karlin, R.E., Toolin, L.J., Donahue, D.J., Southon, J.R., Vogel, J.S., (1991). Low organic carbon accumulation rates in Black Sea sediments. Nature 350 (6230): 692-695.
• Demaison, G.J., Moore, G.T., (1980). Anoxic environments and oil source bed genesis. Am. Assoc. Petrol Geol. Bull. 64: 1179–1209.
• Canfield, D.E., (1994). Factor influencing organic carbon preservation in marine sediments. Chem. Geol. 114: 315–329.
• Premuzic, E.T., Benkovitz, C.M., Gaffney, J.S., Walsh, J.J., (1982). The nature and distribution of organic matter in the surface sediments of world oceans and seas. Org. Geochem. 4: 63–77.
• Mayer, L. M., Rahim, P.T., Guerin, W., Macko, S.A., Walting, L., Anderson, F.E., (1985). Biological and granulometric controls on sedimentary organic matter of an intertidal mudflat. Estuarine Coastal Shelf Science 20: 491-503.
• Ergin, M., Bodur, M.N., Ediger, D., Ediger, V., Yılmaz, A., (1993). Organic carbon distribution in the surface sediments of the Sea of Marmara and its control by the inflows from adjacent water masses. Marine Chemistry 41:311-326.
• Betts, J.N., Holland, H.D., (1991). The oxygen content of ocean bottom waters the burial efficiency of organic carbon and the regulation of atmospheric oxygen. Global and Planetary Change 5: 5–18.
• Mayer, L.M., (1994). Relationship between mineral surfaces and organic carbon concentrations in soils and sediments. Chem. Geology 114: 347-363.
• Keil, R.G., Tsamakis, E., Fuh, C.B., Giddings, J.C., Hedges, J.I., (1994a). Mineralogical and textural controls on the organic composition of coastal marine sediments: hydrodynamic separation using SPLITT fractionation. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 58: 879-893.
• Keil, R.G., Montluion, D.B., Prahl, F.G., Hedges, J.I., (1994b). Sorptive preservation of labile organic matter in marine sediments. Nature 370: 549-552.
• Hedges, J.I., Keil, R.G., (1995). Sedimentary organic matter preservation: An assessment and speculative synthesis. Mar. Chem. 49: 81–115.
• Arthur, M.A, Dean, W.E., Laarkamp, K., (1998). Organic carbon accumulation and preservation in surface sediments on the Peru margin. Chem. Geol. 152: 273–286.
• Hedges, J.I., Hu, F.S., Devol, A.H., Hartnett, H.E., Tsamakis, E., Keil, R.G., (1999). Sedimentary organic matter preservation: A test for selective oxic degradation. Am. J. Sci. 299: 529–555.
• Keil, R.G., Cowie, G.L., (1999). Organic matter preservation through the oxygen- deficient zone of the NE Arabian Sea as discerned by organic carbon: mineral surface area ratios. Marine Geology 161: 13–22.
• Vanderwiele, S., Cowie, G.L., Soetaert, K., Middelburg, J.J., (2009). Amino acid biogeochemistry and organic matter degradation state across the Pakistan margin oxygen minimum zone. Deep-Sea Res Pt II 56(6–7): 376–392.
• Zonneveld, K.A.F., Versteegh, G.J.M., Kasten, S., Eglinton, T.I., Emeis, K.C., Huguet, C., Koch, B.P., de Lange, G.J., de Leeuw, J.W., Middelburg, J.J., Mollenhauer, G., Prahl, F., Rethemeyer, J., Wakeham, S., (2010). Selective preservation of organic matter in marine environments; processes and impact on the fossil record. Biogeosciences 7: 1-29.
• Prell, W.L., Kutzbach, J.E., (1992). Sensitivity of the Indian monsoon to forcing parameters and implications for its evolution. Nature 360: 647–652. doi: 101038/360647a0
• Qasim, S.Z., (1977). Biological productivity of the Indian Ocean Indian. J. Mar. Sci. 6: 122-I37.
• Wyrtki, K., (1971). Oceanographic Atlas of the International Indian Ocean Expedition National Science Foundation US Government Printing Office Washington DC, 531.
• Von Stackelberg, U., (1972). Facies of sediments of the Indian-Pakistan continental margin (Arabian Sea). Meteor Forsch Ergebnisse Reihe 9: 1-73.
• Paropkari, A.L., Babu, C.P., Mascarenhas, A., (1992). A critical evaluation of depositional parameters controlling the variability of organic carbon in Arabian Sea sediments. Marine Geology 107(3): 213-226.
• Paropkari, A.L., Babu, C.P., Mascarenhas, A., (1993). New evidence for enhanced preservation of organic carbon in contact with oxygen minimum zone on the western continental slope of India. Marine Geology 111(1–2): 7-13.
• Calvert, S.E., Pedersen, T.F., Naidu, P.D., von Stackelberg, U., (1995). On the organic carbon maximum on the continental slope of the eastern Arabian Sea. Journal of Marine Research 53: 269–296.
• Slater, R.D., Kroopnick, P., 1984. Controls on dissolved oxygen distribution and organic carbon deposition in the Arabian Sea In: “Marine Geology and Oceanography of Arabian Sea and Coastal Pakistan”, (J.D. Milliman, B.U. Haq, eds.), Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
• Fontugne, M.R., Duplessy, J.C., (1986). Variations of the monsoon regime during the upper Quaternary:" evidence from carbon isotopic record of organic matter in north Indian Ocean sediment cores. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 56: 69-88.
• Shimmield, G.B., Price, N.B., Pedersen, T.F. (1990). The influence of hydrography bathymetry and productivity on sediment type and composition of the Oman Margin and in the Northwest Arabian Sea. In: “The geology and tectonics of the Oman region”, (A.H.F. Robertson, M.P. Searle, A.C. Ries, eds), Geological Society Special Publication No 49, pp. 759–769, London.
• Khan, A.A., (1999). Accumulation of organic carbon in northwestern Arabian Sea sediments. Pakistan Journal of Hydrocarbon Research 11: 51-58. georefid: 2008-126645
• Cowie, G.L., Calvert, S.E., Pedersen, T.F., Schulz, H., von Rad, U., (1999). Organic content and preservational controls in surficial shelf and slope sediments from the Arabian Sea Pakistan Margin. Mar. Geol. 161: 23–38.
• Schulte, S., Mangelsdorf, K., RullkoÈtter, J., (2000). Organic matter preservation on the Pakistan continental margin as revealed by biomarker geochemistry. Organic Geochemistry 31(10): 1005-1022.
• Cowie, G.L., Mowbray, S., Lewis, M., Matheson, H., McKenzie, R., (2009). Carbon and nitrogen elemental and stable isotopic compositions of surficial sediments from the Pakistan margin of the Arabian Sea. Deep-Sea Research 56: 271–282. doi:101016/jdsr2200805031
• Lückge, A., Deplazes, G., Schulz, H., Scheeder, G., Suckow, A., Kasten, S., Haug, G.H., (2012). Impact of Indus River discharge on productivity and preservation of organic carbon in the Arabian Sea over the twentieth century. Geology 40(5): 399–402.
• Khan, A.A., Memon, M.G., Danish, M, Inam, A., (1993). Distribution of surface sediments off Indus delta on the continental shelf of Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Marine Sciences 2(1): 33–39.
• Giosan, L., Constantinescu, S., Clift, P.D., Tabrez, A.R., Danish, M., Inam, A., (2006). Recent morphodynamics of the Indus delta shore and shelf. Continental Shelf Research 26: 1668–1684
• Islam, S.R., (1959). The Indus submarine canyon. Oriental Geography 3: 101–104.
• Shepard, F.P., Dill, R.F. (1966). Submarine canyons and other sea valleys. Rand McNally and Co, Chicago.
• Nair, R.R., Hashimi, N.H., Rao, P.C., (1982). Distribution and dispersal of clay minerals on the western continental shelf of India. Mar. Geol. 50: 1-9.
• Wells, J.T., Coleman, J.M., 1984. Deltaic morphology and sedimentology with special reference to the Indus River delta. In: “Marine Geology and Oceanography of Arabian Sea and Coastal Pakistan”, (J.D. Milliman, B.U. Haq, eds.), pp. 85–100, Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
• Kolla, V., Ray, P.K., Kostecki, J.A., (1981). Surficial sediments of the Arabian Sea. Mar. Geol. 41:183–204.
• Clift, P.D., Shimizu, N., Layne, G., Blusztajn, J., (2001). Tracing patterns of unroofing in the Early Himalaya through microprobe Pb isotope analysis of detrital K-feldspars in the Indus Molasse. Earth Planet Sci. Lett. 188: 475– 491.
• Clift, P.D., Campbell, H., Malcolm, S.P., Andrew, C., Zhang, X., Hodges, K.V., Ali Athar, K., Charlotte, M.A., (2004). Thermochronology of the modern Indus River bedload; new insight into the control on the marine stratigraphic record. Tectonics 23. doi: 101029/2003TC001559
• Garzanti, E., Vezzoli, G., Ando, S., Paparella, P., Clift, P.D., (2005). Petrology of Indus River sands: a key to interpret erosion history of the Western Himalayan Syntaxis. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 229: 287–302.
• Milliman, J.D., Quraishee, G.S., Beg, M.A.A. (1984). Sediment discharge from the Indus River to the ocean: past present and future In: “Marine Geology and Oceanography of the Arabian Sea and Coastal Pakistan Van Nostrand Reinhold”, (B. U. Haq, J. D. Milliman, eds), pp. 65-70, New York.
• Milliman, J. D., Syvitski, P. M., (1992). Geomorphic/ tectonic control of sediment discharge to the ocean: the importance of small mountainous rivers. Journal of Geology 100: 525–544.
• Gibbs, J.R., (1981). Sites of river derived sedimentation in the Ocean. Geology 9: 77-80.
• Folk, R.L. (1980). Petrology of Sedimentary rocks. Hemphill Publishing Company, Austin, Texas.
• El–Wakeel, S.K., Riley, J.P., (1957). The determination of organic carbon in marine muds. J. Cons. Int. Explor. Mer. 22(2): 180–183.
• Gaudette, H., Muller, G., Stoffers, P., (1974). An inexpensive titration method for the determination of organic carbon in recent sediments. J. Sed. Pet. 44: 249-253.
• Trask, P.D., (1953). The sediments of the Western Gulf of Mexico. Part II: Papers Phys Oceanogr and Meteorol Mass Inst Technol Woods Hole Oceanogr Inst 12:51.
• Brodovskiy, O.K., (1965). Accumulation of organic matter in bottom sediments. Marine Geology 3:33-82.
• Van Andel, T.H., (1964). Recent marine sediments of the Gulf of California. In: “Marine geology of the Gulf of California”, (T.H. Van Andel, G.D. Shor, eds.), Am. Assoc. Petrol Geol. Mem. 3:216.
• Hunt, J.M. (1996). Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, Freeman Press, New York.
• Bush, W.H., Keller, G.H., (1981). The physical properties of Peru-Chile continental margin sediments-the influence of coastal upwelling on sediment physical properties. Jour. Sedimentary Petrology 51: 705-719.
• Lisitzin, A.P., (1972). Sedimentation in the world Ocean. Soc. Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 17: 218.
• Krissek, L.A., Scheidegger, K.F., (1983). Environmental controls on sediment texture and composition in low oxygen zones off Peru and Oregon In: “Coastal Upwelling: Its Sediment Record Part B: Sediment Records of Ancient Coastal Upwelling Plenum”, (J. Thiede, E. Suess, eds.), pp. 163-180, New York.
• Reinson, G. E., (1975). Geochemistry of muds from shallow restricted estuary Australia. Mar. Geol. 19: 297-314.
• Paropkari, A.L., Rao, C.M., Murty, P.S.N. (1987) Environmental controls on the distribution of organic matter in recent sediments of the western continental margin of India. In: “Petroleum geochemistry and exploration in the Afro-Asian region”, (R.K. Kumar, P. Dwivedi, V. Banerjee & V. Gupta, eds), pp. 347–361, Rotterdam.