Origin, distribution and environmental significance of perylene in Okinawa Trough since last glaciation maximum

•Relatively high abundance of perylene detected in Okinawa Trough over the past 20kyr.•Correlation of perylene was much stronger with long chain n-alkanes than alkenones.•Substantially different δ13C between perylene and long chain n-alkanes.•Perylene in Okinawa Trough is of a terrigenous origin likely from soil fungi. Perylene, a five-ring nuclear polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), has a different distribution pattern from anthropogenic PAHs. Its source, however, remains obscure, limiting its application as an environmental indicator. Here we examine perylene in the upper 85m sediments of the ODP Hole 1202B from the southern Okinawa Trough. Over the past 20,000years, the mass accumulation rate of perylene is substantially higher in the last deglaciation than the Holocene and last glacial maximum. Perylene presents a strong correlation with C31n-alkane (r=0.55; p