PRINCIPAL 



INVESTIGATOR(S) Daniel J. Repeta and Timothy I. Eglinton 



Both at: Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry 



Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 

 Woods Hole, MA 02543 



PROJECT TITLE CHARACTERIZATION OF MACROMOLECULAR 



COMPONENTS OF PARTICULATE, COLLOIDAL AND 

 DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER AT THE SEDIMENT- 

 WATER INTERFACE. IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIC 

 MATTER DEGRADATION VERSUS PRESERVATION 

 DURING EARLY DIAGENESIS IN SHELF SEDIMENTS 



AMOUNT OF FUNDING FY 1994: $378 K 



SUMMARY OF GOALS 



The overall goals of our research as part of the OMP mission are the following: 



(i) To develop instrumental techniques for the quantitative analysis and characterization 

 of complex polymeric constituents in various organic phases. 



(ii) To compile a comprehensive inventory of major biochemicals in particulate, colloidal 

 and dissolved organic matter (POM, COM and DOM). 



(iii) To quantitatively assess the contribution of continentally derived organic carbon to 

 margins. 



SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SAMPLING SCALES 



We will propose two field efforts, one to examine internal cycling of DOM within the 

 Hatteras study area, and a second survey study to monitor DOM (and POM) sources, 

 accumulation and transformation during longshelf transport from Georges Bank to Hatteras. 



Our Hatteras-based studies will be organized around compositional changes in DOM with 

 changes in production and source terms, and on interfacing the biomarker approach with 

 microbiological studies ( 13 C labelling experiments) of DOM degradation/transformations. We 

 will perform compositional characterization of DOM collected during four cruises throughout 

 the course of the field program, in late summer (July/August), early winter 

 (November/December), early spring (February/March) when river discharge is at its maximum, 

 and late spring (March/April) when river discharge is less and local production is highest. 



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