Burbanck: 



Barghoorn: 

 Burbanck: 



Odum: 



Barghoorn: 



Odum: 



Barghoorn: 



Odum: 



Barghoorn: 



Odum: 



I have never seen your analysis of it. I would judge from the 

 composition of it that it seems to be organic and I was wondering 

 if it may not be some of the extracts of the plant material that 

 you have been talking about. 



These jellies occur in a variety of sediments both recent and old. 

 There is a possibility that they have colloidal systems. 



Still, it is right between your deposits of sand in the headwaters 

 and where the sands from Buzzard's Bay have been moved in 

 from the mouth. It is intermediate. It is pretty much devoid of 

 life. Macoma baltica is about all you find in it. 



What is known about the antibiotic properties of peats, both from 

 the organic antibiotic types and also for the inorganic; that is, 

 are the metal ions concentrated perhaps by the plants and sub- 

 sequently further concentrated. What I am getting at is, you 

 know the terrible range of trace element concentrations in coal. 

 It seems to make no sense in terms of anything we know about 

 modern plants. What does this mean, and does this affect the 

 decomposition ? 



Well it is a very involved problem. Your inherent ash, your 

 clastic ash, your solution ash, and all of those things, but as 

 far as the antibiotic properties of peat are concerned they are 

 highly bactericidal. 



Do you think it is an organic antibiotic or an inorganic antibiotic ? 



It must be organic. 



Now do you have an entire range of this property or different 

 north-south latitude effects or anything of that type ? 



(He refers to the very high levels of antibiotic activity in bogs 

 which are present both in Europe and in North America. ) As 

 far as the minerals in coal are concerned, this is very difficult. 

 Secondary post-deposition problems come in. The uranium bus- 

 iness is trying to help the picture. The inherent ash in coal 

 probably has little to do with the ash content. 



What is the humic material in the streams that are acid, such 

 as the Gulf and southeastern coastal plain? 



Barghoorn: I do not know. 1 think a good deal of it is probably tannin, 

 not think it is humic. 



I do 



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