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. Application of compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA)in sediment fingerprinting source apportionment studies is becoming morefrequent, as it can potentially provide robust land-use-based sourceattribution of suspended sediments in freshwater and marine systems.Isotopic tracers such as δ13C values of vegetation-derivedorganic compounds are considered to be suitable for the CSIA-basedfingerprinting method. However, a rigorous evaluation of tracerconservativeness in terms of the stability of isotopic signature duringdetachment and transport of soil during erosion is essential for thesuitability of the method. With the aim to identify potential fractionationand shifts in tracer signature during early degradation of organic matter insurface soils, we measured concentrations and δ13C values oflong-chain fatty acids and n-alkanes from fresh plant biomass (as vegetationis a direct source of these compounds to the soils), degraded organichorizon (O horizon), and mineral soil (A horizon) from various foresttypes with different humus forms (five sites). The bulk δ13Cvalues showed continuous 13C enrichment through the degradation stagesfrom fresh plant material to the O and A horizons, ranging between 3.5 ‰ and5.6 ‰. Compound-specific δ13C values showeda general 13C enrichment for both long-chain fatty acids (up to5 ‰) and n-alkanes (up to 3.9 ‰) from fresh plant biomass to the O horizon overlying the A horizon.However, only slight or no further changes occurred from the O to the Ahorizon. We also compared compound-specific δ13C values betweentwo soil particle size classes (&lt;2 mm and &lt;63 µm)from four sites and found no significant differences of tracer valuesbetween them, with even less fractionation for the long-chain n-alkaneswithin the soil particle fractions. This points to the conclusion thatsampling and analysing bulk soil material might be valid for the isotopictracer applications. We further conclude that our results support thesuitability of studied isotopic tracers as a representative source soilsignature in the CSIA-based sediment source attribution, as they demonstratednecessary stability in the plant–soil system during organic matter degradation.

biogeosciences

Understanding the effects of early degradation on isotopic tracers: implications for sediment source attribution using compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA)