Concentrations and radiocarbon signatures of dissolved organic matter in the Pacific Ocean

Journal Article · Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989 · Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/GL016i009p00991· OSTI ID:5546922

Druffel, E R.M. ^[1]; Williams, P M ^[2]; Suzuki, Yoshimi ^[3]

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1. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MA (USA)
2. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA (USA)
3. Meteorological Research Institute, Tsukuba (Japan)

The authors present evidence suggesting that only a portion of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the seawater analyzed previously by Williams and Druffel (1987) was oxidized by the UV-radiation method. High temperature catalytic (HTC) methods (Sugimura and Suzuki, 1988) used to reoxidize the central North Pacific gyre water samples reveal that the total DOC (DOC{sub HTC}) is about twice that of the UV-oxidizable DOC (DOC{sub UV}). Indications from the original study suggest that this additional DOC contains higher concentrations of radiocarbon than in the DOC{sub UV} (Williams and Druffel, 1987). This evidence implies that DOC is older and thus more refractory with respect to biological utilization, yet is more chemically reactive with respect to photooxidation, than the fraction resistant to UV (DOC{sub res}). The authors report accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) {Delta}{sup 14}C measurements of humic, fulvic and hydrophilic acid fractions isolated from water collected at 180 m in the North Pacific (19{degree}N, 158{degree}W) using XAD macroreticular resins. {Delta}{sup 14} values of the humic material are less than those of DOC{sub UV} from a similar depth 1,200 km further north (Williams and Druffel, 1987) indicating that these humic substances are part of the old recycled DOC{sub UV} in the ocean.

• OSTI ID: 5546922
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (USA), Vol. 16:9; ISSN 0094-8276
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ORGANIC MATTER
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
SEAWATER
WATER CHEMISTRY
AGE ESTIMATION
CARBON 14
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ERRORS
FULVIC ACIDS
HUMIC ACIDS
ISOTOPE DATING
ISOTOPE RATIO
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
MEASURING METHODS
OXIDATION
PACIFIC OCEAN
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBON ISOTOPES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MATTER
NUCLEI
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIATIONS
RADIOISOTOPES
SEAS
SPECTROSCOPY
SURFACE WATERS
WATER
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
540320* - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)