1 So, as far as the ultimate fate of hydrocarbons, along with fine- 



2 grained sediments and any associated pollutants, I think we can make 



3 from all these data some general implications. This is from the SEEP 



4 study, through studies of different types of organic material, lignin 



5 and other types of organic matter. 



6 Vecutesin [phonetic] and coercas [phonetic], determined that about 



7 40 to 50 percent of the organic matter is exported, there is a net 



8 export from the shelf to the slope area and it is deposited there. 



9 Secondly, that the canyon heads are sites of the fine-grained 



10 sediment accumulation, which is pretty clear from the previous 



11 presentations, and along with the sediment accumulation is a 



12 depositional are for PAH's and hydrocarbons as well. Right now these 



13 PAH's are largely just a combustion source. 



14 Because they are presently at low level, there is a very sensitive 



15 type of measurement. We will easily be able to see any fossil inputs or 



16 changes in the composition of this PAh material with time at the canyon 



17 heads or other depositional areas. 



18 The up-canyon transport of the fine-grained sediments, perhaps 



19 leading to the deposition of the canyon heads, is presently a working 



20 hypothesis that is certainly suggested by the data. There are other 



21 hypotheses as well, but I think we've been talking about this 



22 possibility for several years and it is something that perhaps we need 



23 to focus on a little bit more. 



24 So that's the hydrocarbon story, it's similar to the fine-grained 



25 sediment story and the metals story, except there is a lot more 



26 information as far as compositional detail in the hydrocarbons, in the 



27 PAH's, that are available to look at these different sources throughout 



28 the study area. 



29 DR. TEAL: Has anyone looked at the waxes on living plants, trees 



30 I was thinking particularly, which stick way up into the atmosphere to 



31 see whether they accumulate the combustion products? Is there 



32 solubility in that? 



33 DR. BOEHM: There certainly are some conifers that produce PAH's. 



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