Sterol diagenesis in Recent sediments from Buzzards Bay,Massachusetts

Sections of a 42 cm core from one area and surface sediments from two other areas of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts were analyzed for sterols. The distribution of sterols in surface sediments appears to be influenced by benthic faunal composition or factors controlling this composition. A comparison of sterols extracted by Soxhlet-extraction with sterols extracted after subsequent saponification of the sediment showed that the former sterols decrease in concentration while the latter saponified sterols increase in concentration with depth. In both fractions, the individual sterol compositions are similar. A transformation between Soxhlet-extractable and non-Soxhlet-extractable saponified sterols appears to be occurring over the 130 yrs sampled by the core. This transformation is probably due to chemical/physical processes rather than biological processes. Comparison with fatty acid data shows that early diagenesis of sterols is slower than early diagenesis of fatty acids.