The Effectiveness of Poisons and Preservatives on Preventingthe Decomposition of Organic Matter Collected in Sediment Traps

拟议的研究将调查常用毒药和防腐剂防止沉积物捕集器中收集的有机物发生变化和分解的能力。现场实验将在沿海和开阔海域、生产率最高和最低时期以及氧气和缺氧环境的条件下进行。这些实验将测试不同毒物/防腐剂防止沉积物陷阱中有机物成分变化的能力，并将提供关于个别化合物和化合物类别的相对分解速度的基本信息，特别是对比氧化和缺氧盆地中的陆源和海洋物质。将讨论两个主要问题：1)各种毒物和防腐剂对沉积物陷阱中收集的有机物的组成有何影响；2)主要种类的生物化合物的分解或保存程度如何？回答这些问题的方法将是确定沉积物捕集器中有机化合物(脂类、糖、氨基酸、色素和木素氧化产物)的浓度，这些捕集器已无毒或已用HgC12、NaN3、氯仿、盐梯度、福尔马林或抗生素处理过。野外实验将在华盛顿州的达博湾，在生产率低和高的时候，在不列颠哥伦比亚省的萨尼奇湾，在含氧和缺氧的水中，以及在百慕大附近的时间序列站“S”进行。

The proposed research will investigate the ability of commonly-used poisons and preservatives to prevent alteration and decomposition of organic matter collected in sediment traps. In-situ experiments will be conducted under conditions which represent both coastal and open ocean areas, periods of maximum high and low productivity, and oxic and anoxic environments. The experiments will test the ability of different poisons/preservatives to prevent compositional changes of organic matter in sediment traps and will provide fundamental information on the relative decomposition rates of individual compounds and compound classes, specifically contrasting terrigenous and marine material in oxic and anoxic basins. Two major questions will be addressed: 1) what is the effectiveness of various poisons and preservatives on the composition of organic matter collected in sediment traps; and 2) what is the extent of decomposition or preservation of the major classes of biogenic compounds? The approach to answering these questions will be to determine concentrations of organic compounds (lipids, sugars, amino acids, pigments, and lignin oxidation products) in sediment traps which have been unpoisoned or which have been treated with HgC12, NaN3, chloroform, salt gradient, formalin, or antibiotics. Field experiments will be conducted in Dabob Bay, Washington, during low and high productivity, in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia, in oxic and anoxic waters, and at the time-series Station "S" off Bermuda.