Total Organic Carbon and Sulfur

Furthermore, the relationship between organic carbon and snlfnr is also characteristic of the paleoenvironment Leventhal (1983) and Berner and Raiswell (1983) observed an increase in pyrite sulfur content in marine sediments with increasing amount of total organic carbon (Fig. 4.14). The rationale behind this is that the amount of metabolizable organic matter available to support sulfate-reducing bacteria increases 

The amount of initial organic carbon then is the sum of the preserved organic carbon (measured as TOC) and the metabolized organic carbon (determined from the sulfur content with stoichiometric correction for the sulfate reduction process). Furthermore, the diffusive loss has to be taken into account. With a 

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