Lipid Markers for Marine Organic Matter

2006 ◽  
pp. 27-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
John K. Volkman
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Marine Organic Matter ◽  
Lipid Markers

scholarly journals Flotsam and jetsam: a global review of the role of inputs of marine organic matter in sandy beach ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn A. Hyndes ◽  
Emma Berdan ◽  
Cristian Duarte ◽  
Jenifer E. Dugan ◽  
Kyle A. Emery ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Sandy Beach ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Sandy Beaches ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Marine Organic Matter ◽  
Beach Cast

Sandy beaches are iconic interfaces that functionally link the ocean with the land by the flow of marine organic matter. These cross-ecosystem fluxes often comprise uprooted seagrass and dislodged macroalgae that can form substantial accumulations of detritus, termed ‘wrack’, on sandy beaches. In addition, the tissue of the carcasses of marine animals that regularly wash up on beaches form a rich food source (‘carrion’) for a diversity of scavenging animals. Here, we provide a global review of how wrack and carrion provide spatial subsidies that shape the structure and functioning of sandy beach ecosystems (sandy beaches and adjacent surf zones), which typically have little in situ primary production. We also examime the spatial scaling of the influence of these processes across the broader seascape and landscape, and identify key gaps in our knowledge to guide future research directions and priorities. Globally, large quantities of detrital kelp and seagrass can flow into sandy beach ecosystems, where microbial decomposers and animals remineralise and consume the imported organic matter. The supply and retention of wrack are influenced by the oceanographic processes that transport it, the geomorphology and landscape context of the recipient beaches, and the condition, life history and morphological characteristics of the taxa that are the ultimate source of wrack. When retained in beach ecosystems, wrack often creates hotspots of microbial metabolism, secondary productivity, biodiversity, and nutrient remineralization. Nutrients are produced during wrack break-down, and these can return to coastal waters in surface flows (swash) and the aquifier discharging into the subtidal surf. Beach-cast kelp often plays a key trophic role, being an abundant and preferred food source for mobile, semi-aquatic invertebrates that channel imported algal matter to predatory invertebrates, fish, and birds. The role of beach-cast marine carrion is likely to be underestimated, as it can be consumed rapidly by highly mobile scavengers (e.g. foxes, coyotes, raptors, vultures). These consumers become important vectors in transferring marine productivity inland, thereby linking marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Whilst deposits of organic matter on sandy beach ecosystems underpin a range of ecosystem functions and services, these can be at variance with aesthetic perceptions resulting in widespread activities, such ‘beach cleaning and grooming’. This practice diminishes the energetic base of food webs, intertidal fauna, and biodiversity. Global declines in seagrass beds and kelp forests (linked to global warming) are predicted to cause substantial reductions in the amounts of marine organic matter reaching many beach ecosystems, likely causing flow-on effects on food webs and biodiversity. Similarly, future sea-level rise and stormier seas are likely to profoundly alter the physical attributes of beaches, which in turn can change the rates at which beaches retain and process the influxes of wrack and animal carcasses. Conservation of the multi-faceted ecosystem services that sandy beaches provide will increasingly need to encompass a greater societal appreciation and the safeguarding of ecological functions reliant on beach-cast organic matter on innumerable ocean shores worldwide.

scholarly journals Plastic Accumulation in the Sea Surface Microlayer: An Experiment-Based Perspective for Future Studies

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Galgani ◽  
Steven Loiselle
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Bulk Water ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Surface Microlayer ◽  
Surface Ocean ◽  
Marine Organic Matter ◽  
Sea Surface Microlayer ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
The Impact

Plastic particles are ubiquitous in the marine environment. Given their low density, they have the tendency to float on the sea surface, with possible impacts on the sea surface microlayer (SML). The SML is an enriched biofilm of marine organic matter, that plays a key role in biochemical and photochemical processes, as well as controlling gas exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere. Recent studies indicate that plastics can interfere with the microbial cycling of carbon. However, studies on microplastic accumulation in the SML are limited, and their effects on organic matter cycling in the surface ocean are poorly understood. To explore potential dynamics in this key ocean compartment, we ran a controlled experiment with standard microplastics in the surface and bulk water of a marine monoculture. Bacterial abundance, chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and oxygen concentrations were measured. The results indicate an accumulation of CDOM in the SML and immediate underlying water when microplastic particles are present, as well as an enhanced oxygen consumption. If extrapolated to a typical marine environment, this indicates that alterations in the quality and reactivity of the organic components of the SML could be expected. This preliminary study shows the need for a more integrated effort to our understanding the impact of microplastics on SML functioning and marine biological processes.

Investigating the Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation of Sea Spray Aerosols UsingProchlorococcusas a Model Source of Marine Organic Matter

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 1139-1149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin J. Wolf ◽  
Allison Coe ◽  
Lilian A. Dove ◽  
Maria A. Zawadowicz ◽  
Keven Dooley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Ice Nucleation ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Model Source ◽  
Marine Organic Matter ◽  
Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation

Land sources of marine organic matter

1977 ◽  
Vol 5 (4-6) ◽  
pp. 341-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuhiko Handa
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Marine Organic Matter

THE GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF AUSTRALIAN CRUDE OILS

1972 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
T.G. Powell ◽  
D.M. McKirdy
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Material ◽  
Depositional Environment ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Crude Oils ◽  
Geochemical Characterization ◽  
Marine Organic Matter ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Lower Palaeozoic

Australian oils are generally light by world standards. They have API gravities greater than 35°, low sulphur and asphalt contents, and are of paraffinic or naphthenic base. The geochemical similarity of oils from the Bowen-Surat Basin, with the notable exception of the Conloi crude, is most marked in the fraction boiling above 250 °C. Oils from the Cooper, Gippsland and Otway Basins are probably derived from terrestrial organic material, but differ in their degree of maturation as indicated by n-alkane patterns. Samples from the Perth Basin exhibit a similar variation in maturity. In the Carnarvon Basin, the Windalia crude differs from those in deeper reservoirs in containing a higher proportion of oxygen-bearing, nitrogen-bearing, and sulphur-bearing compounds, another sign of a less mature oil. The East Mereenie oil displays an odd-even predominance in its n-alkane distribution which is characteristic of some Lower Palaeozoic crudes. A Papuan Basin condensate is the only available sample produced from a limestone reservoir. This probably accounts for its higher sulphur content. Two seeps obtained from the Papuan Highlands are inspissated residues which may have suffered microbiological alteration.A major control of the composition of Australian crude oils appears to be the depositional environment of the source rock. Most of the oils show evidence of having been generated, at least in part, from terrestrial (as opposed to marine) organic matter. The location of all but one of the reservoirs within sequences dominated by the sandstone - shale association is consistent with the likely contribution of land plant detritus to their source environment. Likewise, low sulphur and asphalt values reflect the scarcity of favourable carbonate-evaporite source and reservoir situations in Australia.

scholarly journals Sub-annual fluorescence measurements of coral skeleton: relationship between skeletal luminescence and terrestrial humic-like substances

Coral Reefs ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 1257-1272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikita Kaushal ◽  
Liudongqing Yang ◽  
Jani T. I. Tanzil ◽  
Jen Nie Lee ◽  
Nathalie F. Goodkin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Humic Substances ◽  
Terrestrial Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Matter Sources ◽  
Hydrological Variability ◽  
Marine Organic Matter ◽  
Fluorescence Measurements ◽  
Organic Carbon Fluxes ◽  
Annual Resolution ◽  
Coral Powder

Abstract Some massive coral core slices reveal luminescent bands under ultraviolet light, which have been attributed to terrestrial humic acids in the skeleton. Coral luminescence has therefore been used to reconstruct past climate and hydrological variability. However, it has remained unresolved how closely coral luminescence at sub-annual resolution is related to terrestrial humic acid concentrations. This study presents a solution-based fluorescence method to quantify terrestrial humic substances in less than 4 mg of coral powder. The results show that in corals from Malaysia and Singapore, the luminescence green-to-blue ratio is correlated with skeletal concentrations of terrestrial humic substances (R2 > 0.40, p < 0.001) at two sites that are exposed to terrestrial dissolved organic matter from peatlands on Sumatra. In contrast, coral cores from two other sites located far from major terrestrial organic matter sources show lower green-to-blue values and no convincing correlation with fluorescence intensity of terrestrial humic substances in the skeleton. Abiogenic aragonite precipitation experiments with both terrestrial and marine organic matter sources confirmed that terrestrial humic substances are readily incorporated into aragonite, but not fluorescent organic matter from marine sources. The results of this study suggest that in coral cores with high luminescence green-to-blue ratios (> 0.6) and large downcore variability (range of ≥ 0.05), the green-to-blue ratio is strongly linked to variation in terrestrial humic substances. Coral cores therefore have the potential to reconstruct past variation in terrigenous dissolved organic carbon fluxes.

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