at estimating the regional air-sea exchange of any of the gases is a 

 knowledge of the spatial and temporal variations in these air-sea dis- 

 equilibria in surface seawaters, together with the respective transfer 

 coefficients for the gases as functions of observable variables. 



Much research remains to be conducted on the chemically reactive 

 gases to elucidate the processes governing their distributions, and 

 most importantly, the kinetics of their rate controlling reactions. Of 

 classical importance is dissolved oxygen, which has been measured in 

 the oceans to a tremendous extent, yet whose reaction kinetics have 

 been directly measured only recently (Packard, 1971), although indirect 

 inferences have been made for decades. 



Many other gases eventually will prove increasingly important in 

 studies of the oceans, including man's impact upon them. Examples in- 

 clude methane, relevant to petroleum exploration; carbon monoxide, 

 relevant to undersea work and habitation; and nerve gas, relevant to 

 waste disposal at sea. We know Uttle of the kinetics of the rate controlling 

 mechanisms governing the steady state and transit concentration levels 

 of these gases in the oceans. 



DETERMINATION OF THE FLUXES OF ORGANIC MATTER 

 IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT 



Organic matter in all its manifestations plays an important part in 

 marine chemistry (see pp. 45). The formation of organic tissue involves 

 the uptake of elements from the aqueous medium into discrete pack- 

 ages, which may become enriched in those elements by many orders 

 of magnitude. An extreme example is the enrichment of polonium by 

 a factor of 2 x 10^ in certain organs of the North Pacific albacore (Fol- 

 som et al., 1972). Both during life and after the death of the organisms, 

 dissolved and particulate organic and inorganic constituents are pro- 

 duced that continue to redistribute chemicals in the ocean. This redis- 

 tribution may be active by scavening chemicals from the water, or passive 

 by decomposing, settling, and being carried along with the water. Under- 

 standing the fluxes of organic carbon, therefore, aids in the understanding 

 of the distribution of many other elements and compounds, for example, 

 heavy metals, DDT, and radioactive material from fallout. 



Organic matter not associated with living organisms in the sea exceeds 

 the amount of all living matter on earth by a factor of ten. Yet we do 

 not know the chemical composition of most of this material, nor its 

 rate of passage through the ocean. Since most of the organic matter is 

 formed in the upper layers of the ocean, the rate of passage of the large 

 amount of dead organic matter through the ocean depends critically on 

 the recycling efficiency of the upper layers if a steady state is maintained. 



41 



