Total organic carbon in Lake Superior sediments: Comparisons with hemipelagic and pelagic marine environments1

Abstract

Seventeen box cores from Lake Superior were analyzed for total organic carbon (TOC), porosity, and 210 Pb activity. The data were used to determine relationships among bulk sedimentation rates, TOC sedimentation rates, and TOC degradation rates with depth in the core. Results are compared with predictive equations for TOC sedimentation rates and degradation rates in the oceans and show some striking similarities between the behavior of TOC in Lake Superior and in hemipelagic and pelagic marine environments.