This dataset provides geochemical data for the Santa Barbara Basin, CA. Sediment was analyzed from sediment core SPR901-03KC, five river sites and a sediment trap. River locations correspond to the locations in Napier et al. (2019; doi:10.1130/B32035.1). The geochemical data include the δ13C, δ15N, Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Total Nitrogen (TN), molar carbon: nitrogen ratios (C/N), Mass Accumulation Rates (MAR), and n-alkane concentration by chain length. These measurements were labelled by depth in the sediment core and categorized by type of event. Event type (flood, turbidite, drought, background) were previously determined Scanning X-Ray Fluorescence (Hendy et al., 2015: doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.01.026). The age model for the sediment core was previously determined by Hendy et al. (2013: doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.01.142). This data was used to determine the impact of episodic flood, turbidite, and prolonged drought on the organic carbon burial in the Santa Barbara Basin, CA.