Free fatty acids in Lake Aydat catchment soils (French Massif Central): sources, distributions and potential use as sediment biomarkers

Renata Zocatelli (1) , Marlène Lavrieux (1) , Jean-Robert Disnar (1) , Claude Le Milbeau (1) , Jérémy Jacob (1) , Jean-Gabriel Bréhéret (2)

1 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans - UMR7327
2 Transferts continentaux : forçages anthropiques, climatiques et géodynamiques

Purpose: Eighteen soils were sampled in the Lake Aydat catchment in order to analyse free fatty acid (FA) content; FAs are considered to be among the most amenable biomarkers to mobilisation by runoff waters. The majority of the study area has soil cover consisting of grasslands or forest since the 2nd World War, although some covers having changed more recently. Material and methods: The soil studied all developed on volcanic rocks (andisols). The bulk organic matter (OM) content of the samples was characterized by Rock-Eval (RE) pyrolysis. The FAs were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of isolated and derivatized (methylation and trimethylsilylation) FA fractions. Results and discussion: Few low molecular weight compounds (LMW; i.e.,

Keywords: Sediments; Soils; Grassland; Fatty acids; French Massif Central; Conifer; Biomarkers; C2FN

Domains: Continental interfaces, environment; Global Changes

Renata Zocatelli, Marlène Lavrieux, Jean-Robert Disnar, Claude Le Milbeau, Jérémy Jacob, et al.. Free fatty acids in Lake Aydat catchment soils (French Massif Central): sources, distributions and potential use as sediment biomarkers. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 2012, 12, pp.734-748. ⟨10.1007/s11368-012-0505-1⟩. ⟨insu-00681805⟩