Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of


Date of this Version



Published in Terra Antartica 2001, 8(3), 303-308. Copyright 2001 Terra Antartica Publication, Universite di Siena.


Sediments and rocks recovered in CRP-3 coring operations contain minute amounts of organic matter (average 0.3% TOC). TOC contents and C:N ratios are zoned systematically: those rocks encountered at depths greater than 330 meters below sea floor (mbsf) contain less organic matter and have higher TOC:N ratios (after correcting for inorganic N) than do shallower rocks. The only two samples that have TOC values greater than 1% also contain abundant granule to silt-sized particles of coal. The total sulphur contents of these rocks is very low and indicates either that only small amounts of deposited organic matter were labile, or that no source of reactive iron was present during diagenesis.