A combined method for the source apportionment of sediment organic carbon in rivers

Organic carbon sources apportionment in river sediments is crucial to the output management of organic carbon. We conducted a source apportionment of sediment organic carbon in four rivers in Shaanxi Province, China, with a novel method that combined environmental scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (ESEM-EDAX), principal component analysis (PCA), 16S rRNA sequencing, microbial community metabolic prediction, and positive matrix factorization (PMF). According to the ESEM-EDAX results, the sources of light fraction organic carbon (LFOC) were the vegetation residues and the organic carbon adsorbed on them; and the source of heavy fraction organic carbon (HFOC) was organic carbon wrapped in particles. Moreover, 16S rRNA sequencing results of LFOC and HFOC concerning microbes demonstrated that LFOC was mainly composed of carbohydrate, cellulose, and alky-aromatic compounds, and that carbohydrate with high molecular weight might be a part of HFOC. Based on the results of microbial community metabolic prediction, PCA, and PMF, we found dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was mainly from lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, apoptosis, and decomposition of carboxylic acids. And it might be mainly composed of lipopolysaccharide, carbohydrates, and organic acid with low molecular. To reflect the appearance of a specific DOC type, three biomarkers were proposed based on the microbial relative abundance and specificity. This research proposed a new method to trace the sources of organic carbon and established microbial biomarkers for the appearance of specific DOC, which would promote the understanding of organic carbon sources into microbes. Thus, this research provides new perspectives in the source apportionment and the life cycle of organic carbon in rivers.