Combined carbon isotope and C/N ratios as indicators of source and fate of organic matter in a poorly flushed, tropical estuary: Hunts Bay, Kingston Harbour, Jamaica

Stable carbon isotopes and C/N ratios of particulate organic matter (POM) in suspended solids, surficial sediments and sediment cores were used to define the spatial and temporal variability of POM in a poorly flushed, urbanized, eutrophic tropical estuary (Hunts Bay, Kingston Harbour, Jamaica). C/N Variation in the sediment surface POM is a function of initial suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM) (or other POM) type and the alteration of CM ratios in the water column or on the sediment surface. The delta(13)C(SPOM) (- 20 to - 25 parts per thousand) values suggest that this material is a mixture of: (1) in situ phytoplankton organic matter; (2) terrestrial river-borne SPOM; (3) terrestrial river-borne bottom sediment POM; and (4) sewage. Downcore variation in organic carbon content, C/N and delta(13)C is attributed mainly to change in the supply rate and type of organic matter. In the NE of Hunts Bay, down core variation in sedimentology and geochemistry are consistent with a change fi om fully marine to freshwater runoff-dominated sedimentation with increasing organic matter input from sewage in recent times. Despite large overlaps in the C/N and delta(13)C(org) 'end-members' pollutant POM, in this case sewage, was the only source which could account for the amount of POM deposited, the surface sediment C/N and delta(13)C(org) values and the trajectories of evolution in C/N and delta(13)C(org) values in cores. The data show that the combined delta(13)C and C/N successfully identifies the source, fate and history of POM even in a poorly-mixed estuary. (C) 1998 Academic Press Limited.