Blair N E, Martens C S, Des Marais D J
Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695, USA.
Science. 1987 Apr 3;236:66-8. doi: 10.1126/science.11539717.
Measurements of the natural abundances of carbon isotopes were made in acetate samples isolated from the anoxic marine sediment of Cape Lookout Bight, North Carolina. The typical value of the total acetate carbon isotope ratio (delta 13C) was -16.1 +/- 0.2 per mil. The methyl and carboxyl groups were determined to be -26.4 +/- 0.3 and -6.0 +/- 0.3 per mil, respectively, for one sample. The isotopic composition of the acetate is thought to have resulted from isotopic discriminations that occurred during the cycling of that molecule. Measurements of this type, which have not been made previously in the natural environment, may provide information about the dominant microbial pathways in anoxic sediments as well as the processes that influence the carbon isotopic composition of biogenic methane from many sources.
对从北卡罗来纳州瞭望角湾缺氧海洋沉积物中分离出的醋酸盐样品进行了碳同位素自然丰度的测量。醋酸盐总碳同位素比率（δ¹³C）的典型值为每千分-16.1±0.2。对于一个样品，甲基和羧基的碳同位素比率分别测定为每千分-26.4±0.3和-6.0±0.3。醋酸盐的同位素组成被认为是该分子循环过程中发生的同位素分馏的结果。这种类型的测量以前在自然环境中尚未进行过，可能会提供有关缺氧沉积物中主要微生物途径以及影响来自许多来源的生物成因甲烷碳同位素组成的过程的信息。
