The P concentrations in each geochemical component, the total reactive P concentration, and the total P concentration for each sediment sample, along with the calcium carbonate and biogenic silica concentrations when determined, are listed in Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, Table 4, Table 5, Table 6, Table 7, and Table 8 for the samples from the respective sites. Total reactive P dominates the sedimentary budget of P at all sites, representing an average of 46% of total P at Site 1022 to as much as 98% of total P at Site 1017.
The more labile forms of reactive P generally constitute a minor portion of total reactive P with increasing sediment depth. Oxide-associated P represents on average no more than 15% of total reactive P, and organic P is on average no more than 16% of total reactive P. Authigenic P constitutes the majority of total reactive P at all sites on average (70%-87% of total reactive P). These site averages are influenced by the depth ranges sampled at each site because, at all sites, the fractions of reactive P represented by the more labile forms (oxide-associated and organic P) decrease with increasing sediment depth. These decreases are mirrored by increases in the fraction of authigenic P relative to total reactive P to values over 80% and as high as 96%-97%, depending on site and sediment depth. These observations—about the significance of reactive P burial in the sediment budget of total P, the dominance of authigenic P fraction in total reactive P budgets, and the geochemical transformations of more labile forms of reactive P to authigenic P with sediment depth—are similar to those in open-ocean sediments (e.g., Delaney and Anderson, 1997).