Organic Matter Matters—The Imaginary Conductivity of Sediments Rich in Solid Organic Carbon

Abstract

Solid organic matter (OM) is a biogeochemically relevant constituent of soils and sediments. It also affects sediments' geophysical properties, but is often overlooked in hydro- and biogeophysical approaches for the characterization of the shallow subsurface. Here, we explore the potential of spectral induced polarization (SIP) to delineate OM-rich zones in the subsurface and provide insights into the mechanisms that drive OM-polarization using measurements on both field cores and artificial OM-sand mixtures. Both, field samples and artificial mixtures showed a linear relationship between the total organic carbon (TOC) content and charge storage (imaginary conductivity). The high cation exchange capacity of OM drives the increase in polarization and can help in delineating potentially microbially active OM-rich zones in cores or field surveys. To avoid misinterpretation of SIP data in unconsolidated media, we strongly suggest quantifying TOC content in sediment samples to accompany the interpretation of field surveys.