Tightly bound aliphatic acids in Lake Biwa sediments: Their origin and stability

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Abstract

Tightly bound geolipids were separated from a 200 m sediment core of Lake Biwa by a second saponification of sediments from which unbound and bound lipids had been extracted. Tightly bound fatty acids, β-hydroxy acids, ω-hydroxy acids and α,ω-dicarboxylic acids were released; their concentrations ranged from 4.7–31.5, 5.6–60.5, 3.4–9.5 and 0.2–5.4 μg/g dry sediment, respectively. These geolipids were considered to be incorporated in humic substances.

Tightly bound fatty acids showed a unimodal distriution with a peak at C16, suggesting that they originate from algae and bacteria and that they are more stable than unbound and bound fatty acids in the sediments. Most of the total β-hydroxy acids, which probably originate from bacteria, were found in the tightly bound fraction. This suggests that a large portion of tightly bound geolipids are formed in the water column and in surface sediments as a result of microbial alteration dead algae. Each class of tightly bound lipids showed higher concentrations between depths of 3 and 15 m in the sediments, where primary production was thought to be enhanced in the past.

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    Present address: Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

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