Abstract
STEROIDAL skeletons have been widely used as markers of the biological origin of organic material in ancient sediments1–7 and petroleum8. Nevertheless, the origin and fate of sterols (stanols and stenols) in recent sediments are poorly understood. Here the significant contribution of organism-derived stanols (saturated sterols) to lacustrine sediments is reported and the geochemical significance discussed. The presence of stanols in recent and ancient sediments, together with unaltered stenols (unsaturated sterols) commonly found in algae, has been reported9–12. In view of the rare abundance of stanols in living organisms, this occurrence has been used as evidence that partial reduction of naturally occurring stenols had taken place over geological time. Stanols have also been identified in contemporary lacustrine sediments13–17. Based on the conversion of 14C-cholesterol into 14C-cholestanol under in situ incubation, Gaskell and Eglinton17,18 proposed that such stanols in young sediments originate from stenols by microbiological reduction after deposition.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burlingame, A. L., Haung, P., Belsky, T. & Calvin, M. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 54, 1406–1412 (1965).
Anderson, P. C., Gardner, P. M., Whitehead, E. V., Anders, D. E. & Robinson, W. E. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 33, 1304–1306 (1969).
Kimble, B. J. et al. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 38, 1165–1181 (1974).
Henderson, W., Wollrab, V. & Eglinton, G. in Advances in Organic Geochemistry (eds Schenck, P. A. & Havenaar, I.) 181–208 (Pergamon, Oxford, 1968).
Anders, D. E. & Robinson, W. E. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 35, 661–678 (1971).
Gallegos, E. J. Analyt. Chem. 47, 1523–1528 (1975).
Mulheirn, L. J. & Ryback, G. Nature 256, 301–302 (1975).
Hills, I. R., Smith, G. W. & Whitehead, E. V. J. Inst. Petrol. 56, 127–137 (1970).
Attaway, D. & Parker, P. L. Science 169, 674–675 (1970).
Mattern, G., Albrecht, P. & Ourisson, G. Chem. Commun. 1570–1571 (1970).
Steel, G. & Henderson, W. Nature 238, 148–150 (1972).
Ogura, K. & Hanya, T. Proc. Japan. Acad. 49, 201–204 (1973).
Henderson, W., Reed, W. E. & Steel, G. in Advances in Organic Chemistry (eds von Gaertner, H. R. & Wehner, H.) 335–352 (Pergamon, Oxford, 1971).
Gaskell, S. J. & Eglinton, G. in Advances in Organic Geochemistry (eds Tissot, B. & Bienner, F.) 963–976 (Editions Technip, Paris. 1974).
Nishimura, M. & Koyama, T. Chem. Geol. 17, 229–239 (1976).
Lee, C., Gagosian, R. B. & Farrington, J. W. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 41, 985–992 (1977).
Gaskell, S. J. & Eglinton, G. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 40, 1221–1228 (1976).
Gaskell, S. J. & Eglinton, G. Nature 254, 209–211 (1975).
Nishimura, M. & Koyama, T. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 41, 379–385 (1977).
Isabell, C., Masuo, M. & Ikekawa, N. Phytochemistry 15, 723–725 (1976).
Nishimura, M. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta (in the press).
Hayashi, H. Jap. Soc. Ecology Abstr. A. Meet. 23, 23 (1976).
Kurasawa, H. & Aoyama, K. Miscellaneus Rep. Res. Inst. Natur. Resource 63, 9–16 (1964).
Okino, T. Jap. Soc. Ecology Abstr. A. Meet. 23, 22 (1976).
Brooks, C. J., Henderson, W. & Steel, G. Biochim. biophys. Acta 296, 431–445 (1973).
Sorokin, Y. I. Microbiologiya 3, 402–413 (1962).
Welte, D. H. in Advances in Organic Chemistry (eds Eglinton, G. & Murphy, M. T. J.) 261–264 (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1969).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
NISHIMURA, M. Origin of stanols in young lacustrine sediments. Nature 270, 711–712 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/270711a0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/270711a0
This article is cited by
-
Paleoenvironmental significance of 5α-stigmastanol in surface soil and lake sediment from the Nianbaoyeze Mountains, eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Journal of Paleolimnology (2022)
-
Paleoenvironmental changes in northwest Mongolia during the last 27 kyr inferred from organic components in the Lake Hovsgol sediment core record
Limnology (2012)
-
Biogeochemical study of organic substances in Antarctic lakes
Hydrobiologia (1989)
-
Vertical distribution of organic constituents in an Antarctic lake: Lake Vanda
Hydrobiologia (1984)
-
High abundance of algal 24-ethylcholesterol in Antarctic lake sediment
Nature (1982)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
