Development of low–centred ice–wedge polygons in the northernmost Ungava Peninsual, Queébec, Canada

Morphological and vegetation mapping and stratigraphic studies were carried out on a 60 by 250 m low–centered polygon field on a flood–plain of the Riviére Deception in the continuous permafrost zone of northernmost Ungava. Analyses of grain size, water and ice content, deformation structures, and macrorests were carried out on drill–core samples, up to a maximum depth of 3.19 m, and radiocarbon dates were obtained from several peat horizons. Five different vegetational habits were identified: uplifted banks, ice–wedge fissures, hummocky centres, wet polygon centres, and water ponds. The stratigraphic analyses revealed many sand layers and organic layers, alternating with a few layers of segregated ice. In the raises banks, brown fen peats represent former wet conditions prior to bank uplift. Total ice volumes of the core samples from polygon centres and banks averaged 60%, and were generally in the form of pore ice. Segregated ice was concentrated in ice wedges. The Low gradient of the polygon field and the shallow active layer are responsible for impded drainage. The origins of this isolated low–centred polygon field are discussed in terms of special local terrain conditions. River flooding since glacio–isostatic emergence at 6000 BP repeatedly spread alluvial sands onto the low flood–plain, which thus became progressively built up to its present elevation. Peat layers buried by these alluvial sands have permitted the changing local drainage conditions to be radiocarbon–dated for the last 2600 years for the core sites. Impeded drainage, low winter temperatures, probable thin snow cover, rapid sedimentation of flood–plain sands, and high volumetric ice contents have created the critical thermal regime necessary for repeated frost cracking in a polygonal pattern, with concomitant ice–wedge dev–elopment. Ice wedges developed at least as early as 2200 BP, causing the formation of low banks. Further growth of ice wedges deformed the peat and sand layers on the bank margins and led to the rise of the latter to heights of 0.5 to 1 m above the intervening low wet polygon centres. More water was then collected in the depressions, leading to a transformations of the vegetation cover from mossy heath to sphagnum bog, wet fen, sedge-covered ponds, and eventually in some cases to open-water pools. The stratigraphic evidence suggests that several generations of high banks formed and disappeared and that their position has changed. Deformation by continued ice–wedge growth has been insignificant since 1000 BP, However. A relatively thick surface peat layer also indicates that sand layers have not been contributed to the polygon field by flooding since ? 500 BP.     

Lake stratigraphy implies an 80 000 yr delayed melting of buried dead ice in northern Russia

Sediment cores from lakes Kormovoye and Oshkoty in the glaciated region of the Pechora Lowland, northern Russia, reveal sediment gravity flow deposits overlain by lacustrine mud and gyttja. The sediments were deposited mainly during melting of buried glacier ice beneath the lakes. In Lake Kormovoye, differential melting of dead ice caused the lake bottom to subside at different places at different times, resulting in sedimentation and erosion occurring only some few metres apart and at shifting locations, as further melting caused inversion of the lake bottom. Basal radiocarbon dates from the two lakes, ranging between 13 and 9 ka, match with basal dates from other lakes in the Pechora Lowland as well as melting of ice‐wedges. This indicates that buried glacier ice has survived for ca. 80 000 years from the last glaciation of this area at 90 ka until about 13 ka when a warmer climate caused melting of permafrost and buried glacier ice, forming numerous lakes and a fresh‐looking glacial landscape. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reconstruction of Late Glacial summer temperatures from chironomid assemblages in Lac Lautrey (Jura,France)

A chironomid–July air temperature inference model based on chironomid assemblages in the surface sediments of 81 Swiss lakes was used to reconstruct Late Glacial July air temperatures at Lac Lautrey (Jura, Eastern France). The transfer‐function was based on weighted averaging–partial least squares (WA‐PLS) regression and featured a leave‐one‐out cross‐validated coefficient of determination (r²) of 0.80, a root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 1.53 ° C, and was applied to a chironomid record consisting of 154 samples covering the Late Glacial period back to the Oldest Dryas. The model reconstructed July air temperatures of 11–12 ° C during the Oldest Dryas, increasing temperatures between 14 and 16.5 ° C during the Bølling, temperatures around 16.5–17.0 ° C for most of the Allerød, temperatures of 14–15 ° C during the Younger Dryas and temperatures of ca. 16.5 ° C during the Preboreal. The Lac Lautrey record features a two‐step July air temperature increase after the Oldest Dryas, with an abrupt temperature increase of ca. 3–3.5 ° C at the Oldest Dryas/Bølling transition followed by a more gradual warming between ca. 14 200 and 13 700 BP. The transfer‐function reconstructs a less rapid cooling at the Allerød/Younger Dryas transition than other published records, possibly an artefact caused by the poor analogue situation during the earliest Younger Dryas, and an abrupt warming at the Younger Dryas/Holocene transition. During the Allerød, two centennial‐scale 1.5–2.0 ° C coolings are apparent in the record. Although chronologically not well constrained, the first of these cold events may be synchronous with the beginning of the Gerzensee Oscillation. The second is inferred just before deposition of the Laachersee tephra at Lac Lautrey and is therefore coeval with the end of the Gerzensee Oscillation. In contrast to the Greenland oxygen isotope records, the Lac Lautrey palaeotemperature reconstruction lacks a clearly defined Greenland Interstadial (GI) event 1d and the decreasing temperature trend during the Bølling/Allerød Interstadial. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

东北地区深层侏罗系火山—沉积序列与储盖组合及勘探意义——以海拉尔盆地侏罗系为例

为揭示东北地区侏罗系火山—沉积序列与储盖组合等地质特征,进一步评价深层油气勘探潜力,本文基于勘探现状,利用露头调查、钻测井对比、岩芯观察、结合地震解释等方法,分析了东北地区侏罗纪盆地构造背景,认为早—中侏罗世和晚侏罗世具有不同的构造环境和盆地性质。早—中侏罗世为受控于蒙古-额霍茨克造山作用的挤压型断陷-坳陷盆地,受到了后期构造的强烈改造。晚侏罗世为陆内伸展环境下与火山活动相关的火山断陷盆地。东北地区晚侏罗世火山活动频繁,形成广泛分布的火山—沉积序列。海拉尔盆地晚侏罗世塔木兰沟组发育典型火山—沉积序列,以火山岩与沉积岩的互层为特征,表现为砂泥岩—中酸性火山岩—砂泥岩—中基性火山岩序列。岩石组合在不同凹陷单元差异性较大,中部凹陷带以火山岩和砂泥岩为主,外围凹陷以火山岩和砂砾岩为主。火山—沉积序列的岩性复杂,储层岩石类型多样,主要有"火山岩、火山碎屑岩、砂砾岩"3类岩性储层,储层物性普遍较低,总体属于中低孔极低渗储层-致密储层。依据火山—沉积序列的不同岩石组合及油气显示情况,可识别出砂泥岩或砂灰泥岩储盖组合、火山岩内幕储盖组合、火山岩-沉积岩复合岩类储盖组合、基岩风化壳储盖组合等四大类九小类...     

Climatic changes since the last deglaciation inferred from a lacustrine sedimentary sequence in the eastern Nanling Mountains,south China

Two sediment cores recovered from Dahu Swamp, which is located in eastern Nanling Mountains in south China, were selected for investigation of palaeoclimatic changes. Multi‐proxy records of the two cores including lithological variation, organic carbon isotope ratio, dry bulk density, organic matter content, magnetic susceptibility, humification degree, median grain size and geochemical proxies reveal that during the last deglaciation three drier phases correspond to the Oldest, Older and Younger Dryas cooling events, and the intercalated two wetter phases synchronise with the Bølling and Allerød warming events. The Holocene Optimum, which was resulted from a strengthening of the East Asian (EA) summer monsoon, occurred in the early and mid Holocene (ca. 10–6 cal. ka BP). In the mid and late Holocene (ca. 6–3 cal. ka BP), a prevailing dry climate suggested a weakening of the EA summer monsoon. The general trend of Holocene climatic changes in this study agrees with the 25° N summer solar insolation, suggesting that orbitally induced insolation may have played an important role in the Holocene climate in the study region. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

山西沁水盆地东北部太原组沉积序列及环境演化*

山西沁水盆地东北部上石炭统—下二叠统太原组含有丰富的煤与煤层气资源,在昔阳黑土岩村一带有良好的露头剖面。以黑土岩村剖面为主要研究对象,结合邻区部分钻孔资料,对石炭—二叠系太原组的岩石特征、沉积构造、化石组成及沉积序列类型进行了详细分析。取得如下成果: 在研究剖面中识别出有障壁和无障壁海岸以及三角洲3种沉积体系,5种沉积相、3种亚相和5种微相,并在太原组中部层段发现混积潮坪沉积;建立了9种沉积序列类型及其古环境分布模式,并基于沉积序列的垂向变化规律,提出了本区太原组的沉积环境模式,进而简要论述了太原组自下而上从障壁岛—潟湖—潮坪到浅海—潮坪,最后到三角洲的沉积环境演变过程。     

A multiproxy record of Holocene environmental changes in the central Kola Peninsula,northwest Russia

A sediment core from Chuna Lake (Kola Peninsula, northwest Russia) was studied for pollen, diatoms and sediment chemistry in order to infer post‐glacial environmental changes and to investigate responses of the lake ecosystem to these changes. The past pH and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of the lake were inferred using diatom‐based transfer functions. Between 9000 and 4200 cal. yr BP, slow natural acidification and major changes in the diatom flora occurred in Chuna Lake. These correlated with changes in regional pollen, the arrival of trees in the catchment, changes in erosion, sediment organic content and DOC. During the past 4200 yr diatom‐based proxies showed no clear response to changes in vegetation and erosion, as autochthonous ecological processes became more important than external climate influences during the late Holocene. The pollen stratigraphy reflects the major climate patterns of the central Kola Peninsula during the Holocene, i.e. a climate optimum between 9000 and 5400/5000 cal. yr BP when climate was warm and dry, and gradual climate cooling and an increase in moisture during the past 5400/5000 yr. This agrees with the occurrence of the north–south humidity gradient in Fennoscandia during the Holocene. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

加拿大Athabasca地区下白垩统McMurray组沉积特征分析

在前人研究基础上,通过钻井岩心描述和测井曲线对比,根据岩石学特征、沉积相标志、测井相标志等对加拿大Athabasca地区下白垩统McMurray组进行了沉积特征分析。McMurray组主要发育了河流相、三角洲相和滨海沉积,总体呈海平面相对上升变化。纵向上,中下部层序以河流相为主,沉积物多为来自盆地周边的近物源,以西部物源为主。短河流汇入盆地后可沿盆地长轴南北发育,成为北部区块的长物源。上部层序受西北方向海侵的影响,自北向南发育滨海-河口湾-三角洲相沉积。     

冀北森吉图盆地早白垩世义县组沉积特征及沉积环境

在野外剖面实测和室内分析的基础上, 对冀北森吉图盆地义县组沉积地层的岩性、沉积构造和古生物特征等进行了详细的研究, 并分析了其沉积环境。结果表明冀北森吉图盆地经历了沉积环境的巨大变化, 岩相类型和岩石组合频繁更替, 表现出快速沉积充填盆地的演化过程。其沉积环境主要可以分为河流沉积和湖泊沉积两种类型, 每一个沉积旋回都是以洪积扇到河流相沉积开始, 向湖泊相沉积演化, 湖泊沉积阶段主要以湖水相对动荡的滨浅湖沉积为主。同时发现火山作用对该时期沉积环境有较大的影响。     

Sedimentary record of explosive silicic volcanism in a Cretaceous deep-marine conglomerate succession, northern Antarctic Peninsula

Lower Cretaceous conglomeratic strata exposed on southern Sobral Peninsula were deposited on a deep‐marine apron in the back‐arc Larsen Basin close to its faulted boundary with the Antarctic Peninsula magmatic arc. The succession is dominated by amalgamated beds of clast‐supported conglomerate, which, together with minor intercalated sandstones, consist of varied, but largely basaltic to andesitic, volcanic material and clasts derived from the Palaeozoic–Triassic (meta)sedimentary basement of the arc. Most of the volcanic clasts are thought to have been derived from lithified volcanic successions or older synvolcanic deposits, rather than from sites of coeval eruption. These mixed‐provenance strata enclose a number of intervals, consisting mainly of inverse–normally graded conglomerate and graded–stratified pebbly sandstone, in which the sand fraction is dominated by crystals and vitric grains considered to have been redeposited in the immediate aftermath of explosive silicic arc volcanism. Like syneruption deposits on non‐marine volcaniclastic aprons, these intervals are more sand‐prone than the enclosing strata and appear to show evidence of unusually rapid aggradation. Plagioclase from one such interval has yielded ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages concordant at ≈121 Ma, similar to those obtained from the non‐marine Cerro Negro Formation, deposited within the magmatic arc. It is suggested that the two successions can be viewed as counterparts, both recording a history of mainly basaltic to andesitic volcanism, punctuated by relatively infrequent, explosive silicic eruptions. Whereas the Cerro Negro Formation consists mainly of syneruption deposits, most of the volcaniclastic material delivered to the eruption‐distal, deep‐marine apron appears to have been derived by normal degradation processes. Only rare silicic eruptions were capable of supplying pyroclastic material rapidly enough and in sufficient quantities to produce compositionally distinct syneruption intervals.     

The stability of a remediated bed in Hamilton Harbour,Lake Ontario,Canada

ABSTRACT In situ measurements of lakebed sediment erodibility were made on three sites in Hamilton Harbour, Lake Ontario, using the benthic flume Sea Carousel. Three methods of estimating the surface erosion threshold (τ_c(0)) from a Carousel time series were evaluated: the first method fits measures of bed strength to eroded depth (the failure envelope) and evaluates threshold as the surface intercept; the second method regresses mean erosion rate (E_m) with bed shear stress and solves for the floc erosion rate (E_f) to derive the threshold for E_m = E_f = 1 × 10^?5 kg m^?2 s^?1; the third method extrapolates a regression of suspended sediment concentration (S) and fluid transmitted bed shear stress (τ₀) to ambient concentrations. The first field site was undisturbed (C) and acted as a control; the second (W) was disturbed through ploughing and water injection as part of lakebed treatment, whereas the third site (OIP) was disturbed and injected with an oxidant used for remediation of contaminated sediment. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to evaluate the three different methods of deriving erosion threshold; (2) to compare the physical behaviour of lacustrine sediments with their marine estuarine counterparts; and (3) to examine the effects of ploughing and chemical treatment of contaminated sediment on bed stability. Five deployments of Sea Carousel were carried out at the control site. Mean erosion thresholds for the three methods were: τ_c(0) = 0·5 (±0·06), 0·27 (±0·01) and 0·34 (±0·03) Pa respectively. Method 1 overpredicted bed strength as it was insensitive to effects in the surface 1–2 mm, and the fit of the failure envelope was also highly subjective. Method 2 exhibited a wide scatter in the data (low correlation coefficients), and definition of the baseline erosion rate (E_f) is largely arbitrary in the literature. Method 3 yielded stable (high correlation coefficients), reproducible and objective results and is thus recommended for evaluation of the erosion threshold. The results of this method correlated well with sediment bulk density and followed the same trend as marine counterparts from widely varying sites. Mass settling rates, expressed as a decay constant, k, of S(t), were strongly related to the maximum turbidity at the onset of settling (S_max) and were also in continuity with marine counterparts. Thus, it appears that differences in salinity had little effect on mass settling rates in the examples presented, and that biological activity dominated any effects normally attributable to changes in salinity. Bedload transport of eroded aggregates (2–4 mm in diameter) took place by rolling below a mean tangential flow velocity (U_y) of 0·32 ms^?1 and by saltation at higher velocities. Mass transport as bedload was a maximum at U_y = 0·4 ms^?1, although bedload never exceeded 1% of the suspended load. The proportion of material moving as bedload was greatest at the onset of erosion but decreased as flow competence increased. Given the low bulk density and strength of the lakebed sediment, the presence of a bedload component is notable. Bedload transport over eroding cohesive substrates should be greater in estuaries, where both sediment density and strength are usually higher. Significant differences between the ploughed and control sites were apparent in both the erosion rate and the friction coefficient (φ), and suggest that bed recovery after disruption is rapid (< 24 h). τ_c(0) increased linearly with time after ploughing and recovered to the control mean value within 3 days. The friction coefficient was reduced to zero by ploughing (diagnostic of fluidization), but increased linearly with time, regaining control values within 6 days. No long‐term reduction in bed strength due to remediation was apparent.     

松辽盆地齐家北地区下白垩统泉头组泉四段沉积微相特征

笔者通过大量的岩心观察、测井及录井资料的研究,结合粒度分析,对齐家北地区泉四段沉积特征进行了系统的分析,共识别出三角洲平原和三角洲前缘两个亚相和水上分流河道、天然堤、分流河道间湾、水下分流河道、水下分流河道间湾、河口坝、远砂坝等7个微相。通过对研究区内泉四段7个含油小层的平面展布特征及沉积演化规律的深入研究,并结合泉四段砂体的含油气性分布特征综合分析研究表明:研究区油气分布明显受控于沉积微相的展布;水下分流河道由于具油源近、储集物性较好而成为最有利的油气聚集相带;河口坝、水上分流河道是油气富集的较有利相带。     

藏北申扎地区上二叠统木纠错组的建立及皱纹珊瑚组合

在申扎县城东南木纠错南东岸附近发现一套巨厚的以白云岩、白云质灰岩为主组成的岩系,厚达2348m。该岩系整合覆于下二叠统下拉组之上,并于其底部发现中国南方晚二叠世早期珊瑚动物群中的重要分子WaagenophyllumindicumcrassiseptatumWu和LiangshanophyllumstreptoseptatumWang两种,与其共生的还有Lobatophyllumzakan-genseWu和WaagenophyllummegacolumetumWu,它们共同组成一个晚二叠世早期特有的皱纹珊瑚动物组合,命名为Waagenophyllum-Liangshanophyllum-Lobatophyllum组合。将含有这一珊瑚化石组合的以白云岩、白云质灰岩为主的岩系另建立新组———木纠错组,该组在层位上相当于中国南方上二叠统的吴家坪组。     

Interhemispheric synchrony of Late-glacial climatic instability as recorded in proglacial Lake Mascardi,Argentina

Several high-resolution continental records have been reported recently in sites in South America, but the extent to which climatic variations were synchronous between the northern and southern hemispheres during the Late-glacial–Holocene transition, and the causes of the climatic changes, remain open questions. Previous investigations indicated that, east of the Andes, the middle and high latitudes of South America warmed uniformly and rapidly from 13 000 ¹⁴C yr BP, with no indication of subsequent climate fluctuations, equivalent, for example, to the Younger Dryas cooling. Here we present a multiproxy continuous record, radiocarbon dated by accelerated mass spectroscopy, from proglacial Lake Mascardi in Argentina. The results show that unstable climatic conditions, comparable to those described from records obtained in the Northern Hemisphere, dominated the Late-glacial–Holocene transition in Argentina at this latitude. Furthermore, a significant advance of the Tronador ice-cap, which feeds Lake Mascardi, occurred during the Younger Dryas Chronozone. This instability suggests a step-wise climatic history reflecting a global, rather than regional, forcing mechanism. The Lake Mascardi record, therefore, provides strong support for the hypothesis that ocean–atmosphere interaction, rather than global ocean circulation alone, governed interhemispheric climate teleconnections during the last deglaciation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental conditions leading to the formation of Holocene soil layers in the Northern Taklimakan Desert,Tarim Basin,Northwest China

Radiocarbon‐dated palaeontological remains and bedding features suggests that climatic changes in the northern Taklimakan Desert since the beginning of the Holocene can be divided into four stages: (i) 12 000–10 000 BP, a cool–to temperate–dry climate resulting in apparent alluvial–fluvial and weak aeolian activities; (ii) 10 000–8000 BP, a dry cold climate, resulting in large‐scale sand dune activity under regional desert expansion; (iii) 8000–3000 BP dry, warm climate, with a decreased area of shifting sand and the fixation of many sand dunes; (iv) 3000 BP to present, rising aeolian activity resulting in sandstorms, under the combined influence of climatic warming and excessive exploitation of land and water resources. Holocene deposits from profiles in the Northern Taklimakan Desert consist mainly of fine‐grained aeolian sand and silty clay. The fine aeolian sand was formed from re‐sorting of aeolian sand during the cold period of the Holocene, while the silty clay was formed by flood deposition in the Holocene warm period. The desert and desert steppe arboreal species and high CaCO₃ content of the warm period strata suggest that the Holocene climate in the area, although generally dry, varied between warm/dry and cold/dry, and, especially in recent times, has become increasingly dry. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

柴北缘东段石炭纪沉积特征及原型盆地恢复

在残留盆地展布、地层发育特征及大地构造背景分析的基础上,恢复了柴北缘东段石炭纪的原型盆地格局。研究表明:石炭纪时期,柴北缘处于"三洋夹两陆"的构造背景,经历了早石炭世的两次海侵和晚石炭世的持续海侵;受NWW向断裂系统的控制,盆地整体为昆仑弧后裂谷盆地,但由南向北构造发育特征表现为弧后陆表海盆地-陆表海盆地内低隆起-弧后裂谷盆地的组合特征。石炭系沉积以后,柴北缘经历了多期不同性质的构造运动,石炭纪后期变形强烈,原型盆地特征被彻底改造。     

渝东南-黔北地区赫南特期冰川事件的沉积响应

奥陶纪末的赫南特期爆发全球冰川事件,渝东南-黔北地区赫南特期沉积的观音桥组,从岩相、古生物组合、古环境等方面表现出该地区对赫南特期冰川事件的响应。通过对观音桥组沉积特征的分析,发现其主要分为3类:一类为颗粒灰岩,细分为泥晶生屑砂屑灰岩和亮晶鲕粒灰岩、亮晶砂屑灰岩等,含珊瑚等化石,代表了中高能量的浅滩环境;一类主要为粉砂质灰岩、粉砂质泥灰岩组合,含腕足类及三叶虫动物群,沉积环境为潮坪。这两类是近岸沉积,主要受相对海平面下降的影响。另一类为形成于浅海陆棚环境的混合岩相,包括泥灰岩与钙质泥岩组合、粉砂质泥岩与泥质粉砂岩组合及含炭泥灰岩;生物包括三叶虫、笔石及腕足等,尤其是标志性冷水型Hirnantia动物群的短暂繁盛,表明其受海水温度变凉的影响较大。潮坪靠近黔中古陆分布,局部发育浅滩,远离古陆变为浅海陆棚环境。总体上,观音桥组沉积环境比五峰组与龙马溪组黑色笔石相页岩的缺氧滞留深水陆棚环境更浅、相对海平面及水温更低,是赫南特期冰川事件直接影响的结果。     

豫西宜阳上二叠统孙家沟组孢粉组合及其地质意义*

豫西宜阳上二叠统孙家沟组为一套陆相碎屑岩,在该组中部土门段砂泥互层中发现大量的植物化石碎片和孢粉化石。文中依据孙家沟组沉积特征及孢粉组合区域对比,厘定了土门段的地质时代,并依据孢粉化石的亲缘植物关系和信息函数,结合微量元素Sr/Cu值指标,定性和半定量分析了宜阳地区的古气候特征。结果显示: 土门段共发现52属孢粉化石,以裸子植物花粉占优势,与华北地区晚二叠世孢粉组合特征有很大的相似性,推测其地质时代相当于晚二叠世长兴期。孢粉化石属种的植物亲缘关系与欧美镁灰岩统植物成分类似,表明整体上为较炎热的半干旱古气候。该成果可为华北地区晚二叠世晚期的陆相沉积环境、古植物背景以及古气候演化研究提供参考依据。     

Characterization of organic matter in surface sediments of the Mackenzie River Basin, Canada

The particulate organic matter in < 63 µm surface sediments from the Mackenzie River and its main tributaries was studied using Rock-Eval pyrolysis and organic petrology. The organic matter in the sediments is dominated by refractory residual organic carbon (RC) of mainly terrigenous nature, as indicated by abundant inertinite, vitrinite, and type III kerogen. Sediments from the tributaries contained significantly more algal-derived organic matter than from the main channel of the river, highlighting the importance of low-energy system dynamics in the tributaries, which allows modest algal production, more accumulation, and better preservation of autochthonous organic matter. This is particularly true for tributaries fed by lacustrine systems, which showed the highest S1 and S2 fractions, and consequently higher total particulate organic carbon (POC) in the basin. Organic petrology of the sediment samples confirms abundant liptinitic materials (i.e., fat-rich structured algae, spores and pollen, cuticles, and resins). Forest fire and coal deposits are also confirmed to contribute to the basin. Assuming that suspended and fine surfacial sediments have a similar OC composition, the Mackenzie River is estimated to deliver a total POC flux of 1.1 Mt C/yr to its delta, of which 85% is residual carbon with liptinitic OC (S1 + S2) and S3 accounting for another 9% and 6%, respectively.