(Table 1) Sample identification and bulk properties, Hole 175-1084A

The major biomarker compounds in surface (0.95 meters below seafloor [mbsf]) and deep (579.92 mbsf) sediment samples from the Benguela Current coastal upwelling system off Lüderitz, Namibia (Leg 175 Hole 1084A), have been identified and quantified. Lipids of marine origin (especially long-chain alkenones) dominate the solvent-soluble extracts of both samples with minor constituents of terrestrially derived lipids. The paleoenvironmental significance of the more labile biomarker distributions (sterols) is limited by losses from depth-related diagenetic transformations. These losses may have led to the relative enrichment of the more refractory biomarkers (alkenones) with depth.