Anaerobic oxidation of methane in coastal sediment from Guishan Island (Pearl River Estuary), South China Sea

The concentrations of CH4, SO42−, σCO2 and the carbon isotope compositions of ΣCO2 and CH4 in the pore-water of the GS sedimentary core collected from Guishan Island (Pearl River Estuary), South China Sea, were determined. The methane concentration in the pore-water shows dramatic changes and sulfate concentration gradients are linear at the base of the sulfate reduction zone for the station. The carbon isotope of methane becomes heavier at the sulfate-methane transition (SMT) likely because of the Raleigh distillation effect; 12CH4 was oxidized faster than 13CH4, and this caused the enrichment of residual methane δ13C and δ13C-ΣCO2 minimum. The geochemical profiles of the pore-water support the existence of anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), which is mainly controlled by the quality and quantity of the sedimentary organic matter. As inferred from the index of δ13C-TOC value and TOC/TN ratio, the organic matter is a mix of mainly refractory terrestrial component plus some labile alga marine-derived in the study area. A large amount of labile organic matter (mainly labile alga marine-derived) is consumed via the process of sedimentary organic matter diagenesis, and this reduces the amount of labile organic matter incorporated into the base of the sulfate reduction zone. Due to the scarcity of labile organic matter, the sulfate will in turn be consumed by its reaction with methane and therefore AOM takes place. Based on a diffussion model, the portion of pore-water sulfate reduction via AOM is 58.6%, and the percentage of ΣCO2 in the pore-water derived from AOM is 41.4%. Thus, AOM plays an important role in the carbon and sulfur cycling in the marine sediments of Pearl River Estuary.