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

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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.