Lignin signature of aquatic humic substances.

Lignin-derived phenols dominate the cupric oxide oxidation products of dissolved humic substances from river and lake waters. The relative distributions of these phenols suggest the presence of intact, though oxidized, lignin, which is indicative of the locally dominant vascular plant vegetation. Recognizable lignin is present mostly in humic acid as opposed to fulvic acid fractions. This lignin component represents a source-specific and process-dependent tracer that can uniquely characterize dissolved organic matter.

Pollen and lignin records of late quaternary vegetation, lake washington.

Analyses of lignin oxidation products and pollen for an 11-meter core from Lake Washington provide independent but similar reconstructions of the late Quaternary vegetation in the Puget Lowland. An exception is in sediments of the late Pleistocene where pollen percentages and influx values suggest conifer forest whereas lignin compositions suggest a treeless source region. This dissimilarity appears to result from different major provenances: eolian transport of pollen to the lake from adjacent or downstream drainage basins as opposed to fluvial transport of lignified plant debris only from the Lake Washington drainage basin.

Organic carbon-14 in the Amazon river system.

Coarse and fine suspended particulate organic materials and dissolved humic and fulvic acids transported by the Amazon River all contain bomb-produced carbon-14, indicating relatively rapid turnover of the parent carbon pools. However, the carbon-14 contents of these coexisting carbon forms are measurably different and may reflect varying degrees of retention by soils in the drainage basin.