National Committee on Marine Sciences (NCMS)
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://repository.unesco.gov.ph/handle/123456789/6
Browse
Search Results
- Clay mineral nanostructures regulate sequestration of organic carbon in typical fluvial sedimentsSong, Hongzhe; Liu, Zhifei; Lin, Baozhi; Zhao, Yulong; Siringan, Fernando P.; You, Chen-Feng (Elsevier, 2024-02-15)The association between clay minerals and organic carbon is pivotal for understanding transport, burial, and preservation processes of sedimentary organic carbon. However, fine-scale microscopic studies are still limited in assessing the effect of diverse clay mineral structures and properties on organic carbon sequestration. In this study, we employed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy analyses to investigate the nanoscale interaction between clay minerals and organic carbon of two typical fluvial sediment samples with contrasting clay mineral compositions and organic carbon origins. Sample from Taiwan shows abundant illite and chlorite with petrogenic organic carbon, while sample from Luzon has significant smectite with pedogenic organic carbon. We observed that the nanostructure of the clay minerals controls the distribution of organic carbon. In the Luzon sample, the organic carbon is tightly associated with smectite, occupying expandable interlayer spaces. In the Taiwan sample, however, the organic carbon is primarily confined on the surface and edge of illite. These findings offer valuable insights into the selective association of organic carbon with clay minerals and underscore the role of clay mineral nanolayer structures in governing the occurrence and preservation of organic carbon in sediments. A comprehensive understanding of these interactions is crucial for accurate assessments of carbon cycling and sequestration in the natural environment.We sincerely thank Shunai Che and Lu Han for their help in TEM experiments and data processing. We thank Editor Dr. Andrew Hursthouse for handling the manuscript and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the early version of this paper. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42130407, 42188102, 42306066) and the Interdisciplinary Project of Tongji University (ZD-22-202102).
- Clay minerals control silicon isotope variations of fine-grained river sediments: Implication for the trade-off between physical erosion and chemical weatheringLing, Chen; Liu, Zhifei; Yu, Xun; Zhao, Yulong; Siringan, Fernando P.; Le, Khanh Phon; Sathiamurthy, Edlic; You, Chen-Feng; Chen, Kaiyun (Elsevier, 2024)Stable silicon (Si) isotopes in fluvial sediments can provide insights into understanding silicate weathering processes on the Earth's surface. However, a lack of comprehensive studies has hindered full understanding of the factors influencing Si isotope fractionation during continental weathering. In this study, through the analysis of Si isotopes in fine-grained sediments from 13 rivers surrounding the South China Sea, significant variation of Si isotopes in bulk detrital sediments (<63 μm) was observed, with δ30Si values ranging from −0.17‰ to −1.09‰. At basin scale, the δ30Si values are influenced by multiple controlling factors such as climatic conditions, lithology, and tectonic settings, which have a close relationship with the content of clay minerals. The characteristics of weathering types and intensities are ultimately reflected in the weathering products, specifically clay minerals. Compiling data across multiple grain sizes from major rivers globally, robust correlations based on clay mineral classification between δ30Si and Al/Si ratio have been observed, which are unaffected by regional and grain-size variations. As the dominant clay mineral group transitions from illite/chlorite to smectite and kaolinite, the degree of Si isotope fractionation increases progressively. This sequence indicates a shift from stronger physical erosion to more intensive chemical weathering, suggesting a transition in the weathering regime from weathering-limited to transport-limited. This study reveals the intrinsic link between Si isotopic compositions and clay mineral assemblages, providing implications for similar stable isotope research and offering a potential indicator for understanding continental weathering processes and their contributions to the global carbon cycle.