21. ORGANIC MATTER IN NEOGENE SEDIMENTS OF THE SOUTHERN CANARY CHANNEL, CANARY ISLANDS (SITES 955 AND 956)1

Ralf Littke,2,3 Andreas Lückge,2,4 and Heinz Wilkes 2

ABSTRACT

Detailed organic geochemical and organic petrologic investigations were performed on sediment samples from Site 955, southeast of Gran Canaria. In addition, some basic data were assembled for Sites 956 and 954, southwest and northeast, respectively, of Gran Canaria. These data reveal that the organic matter is composed of a complex mixture of marine and terrestrial-derived material. The rate of preservation of the organic matter is surprisingly high, and, accordingly, hydrogen index values calculated from Rock-Eval pyrolysis data are as high as those in the upwelling sediments along the continental slope off northwest Africa. Part of the organic matter is preserved in response to mass and turbidity transport processes, leading to low rates of aerobic degradation in the rapidly buried sediments. None of the assembled organic geochemical and organic petrologic data—not even from the deeper samples—indicated an anomalously enhanced level of organic matter maturation in the vicinity of the Canary hot spot.

1 Weaver, P.P.E., Schmincke, H.-U., Firth, J.V., and Duffield, W. (Eds.), 1998. Proc. ODP, Sci. Results, 157: College Station, TX (Ocean Drilling Program).
2 Institut für Erdöl und Organische Geochemie (ICG-4), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Federal Republic of Germany.
3 Present address: Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of Petroleum and Coal, Aachen University of Technology, Lochnerstrasse 4-20, 52056 Aachen, Federal Republic of Germany. littke@lek.rwth-aachen.de
4 Present address: BGR, Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hannover, Federal Republic of Germany.