Composition, origin and evolution of terrigenous organic matter in the Southern Continental Margin of Brazil throughout the Holocene: ´13C and ´D in specific lipid biomarkers in high resolution sediment cores

Abstract

The marine environment can record climatic events that have occurred on the planet along with geological eras. As an important part of the autochthonous and allochthonous organic material present in the oceans are located in the continental margins, the use of long, continuous, and high-resolution sedimentary records obtained from marine mud depocenters can provide information on the biogeochemical processes that occurred in the past and how they have responded to environmental changes. The Southern Continental Margin of Brazil is under the influence of strongly coupled climatic-hydrological-oceanographic interaction, with the modern influence of the La Plata River Plume, however, with different terrigenous sources along the Holocene. In this context, and due to high chemical stability, source specificity, and low degradability, the variation and distribution of lipid biomarkers are useful tools to perform paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic reconstructions. In addition, a further enhancement of the lipid biomarkers approach is to examine the compound-specific stable carbon (´13C) and hydrogen (´D) isotopes giving new information and increasing the robustness and reliability of the interpretation. This study aims to carry out a research internship at the Sorbonne University with Dr. Ioanna Bouloubassi that will give additional ´13C and ´D data as well as interpretation during the Holocene in the Southern Brazilian Continental Margin. (AU)