measured lignin phenols and the branched
and isoprenoidal tetraether (BIT) index in soils and riverbed sediments
of the Amur River basin and in surface sediments from the
Sea of Okhotsk to investigate the source, transport, and deposition
of fluvial particulate organic matter to the Sea of Okhotsk and the North Pacific Ocean. Their results suggest that inputs of terrestrial
organic matter supplied from the Amur River into the Sea of Okhotsk
area are a major source of particulate organic matter in the
North Pacific. This finding supports results of previous studies conducted
in the northwest Pacific (Hernes and Benner, 2002). To
determine the transport and deposition processes of fluvial materials
on the northwestern continental shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk,
Yasuda et al. (2014) investigated Sr and Nd isotopes of terrestrial
detritus in surface sediments from the Okhotsk Sea and suspended
matter from the Okhotsk Sea and the Amur River water. The regional
variations of these radiogenic isotopes indicate that detritus in
the Amur River water flowing out onto the shelf becomes mixed
with Okhotsk–Chukotoka volcanic material transported from the
northern Okhotsk Sea, and then both are transported via OSIW.
These features are consistent with the physical processes of the
Amur River discharge and the DSW outflow discussed in Fujisaki
et al. (2014).