Total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) are the most important components of sediments and soils as they can be
used to distinguish marine and terrestrial sources of organic matter, environmental depositional conditions, pollution indices and
soil quality and productivity indicators. In this paper we present datasets of measurements of TOC and TN in sediments applying
high temperature (720oC) catalytic combustion (Pt/Al2O3) oxidation method, as well as measurements of soil certified references
materials (CRM). The detection of TOC and TN was performed using an infrared or a chemiluminescence detector, respectively.
We validate the methods studying the range of measurement, the repeatability, reproducibility and precision. TOC results are
compared with these measured by the widely used modified Wakley-Black titration method of Gaudette et al. (1974). This
comparison indicated that the catalytic combustion method and Wakley-Black titration method have a very good correlation for
low total organic carbon content (less than 5%), as well as for high organic carbon content (till 40%), while for sediments with
higher organic load the catalytic combustion method is more accurate.