Probing Organic Matter Mineral Interactions in Soil and Sedimentary Environments

Researchers

Prof. Timothy Eglinton
Dr. Michael Plötze
Thomas Blattmann

Duration

2014-2018

Collaborators

Prof. Zhifei Liu State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai

Prof. Fernando Siringan Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines

Support

ETH-14 41-1

Tongji University Laboratory Open Fund

The objectives of this project are to assess the control of different minerals, in particular phyllosilicates, on the stabilization and preservation of natural organic matter in soils and sediments. We are developing a method for isolating individual amino acids from these matrices in order to conduct amino acid-specific radiocarbon isotope analyses with the aim of shedding light on the degree of stabilization, as reflected by compound age, as a function of mineralogy. We are investigating samples from the northeastern South China Sea and its catchment where a strong natural gradient in phyllosilicate mineralogy is present.