| Abstract: | Results are presented for two studies concerned with the sources, transport and transformation mechanisms of two classes of organic compounds. An emphasis is placed on the importance of collecting and correlating related chemical and oceanographic data with the qualitative and quantitative organic compound analyses. The first study involves the analysis of seawater samples for a class of relatively labile, biogenic compounds, the sterols. From the vertical profiles of the sterols, along with hydrographic, particulate organic carbon, and total particulate matter data, an attempt is made to understand sterol distributions in the ocean and the transport mechanisms governing their movement into the deep sea. The second study involves the analysis of Sargasso Sea water samples for a class of more resistant, transformed biogenic compounds, humic and fulvic acids. Their isolation, structural elucidation, mechanism of formation and fate are discussed. |
