Organic Geochemical Flux Studies in the Equatorial Pacific Using Swimmer Excluding Rotator Traps

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The P.I.:s propose to conduct an organic geochemical investigation of the flux of particulate matter in the Central Equatorial Pacific (EQPAC). This study should allow them to reconcile water column production and sinking fluxes of the major biochemicals (lipids, amino acids, pigments, and carbohydrates) with the corresponding sediment deliver, accumulation and preservation rates, using well over 100 individual organic compounds. Major questions are: 1) What are the dynamics of particles in the surface Equatorial Pacific as reflected by their organic constituents? 2) What fractions of the different biochemicals produced in the surface waters reach the deep ocean and are accumulated at the sediment-water interface? 3) What are the relative reactivities of different organic substances in the underlying sediments? 4) Do biochemical distributions differ appreciably with the inorganic composition of the various sediment types along the study transect? To address these questions the P.I.:s will sample suspended particles by insitu pumping, sinking particles using our new swimmer-exclusion traps, and bottom sediments from box cores at transect and time-series stations in coordination sampling with other EQPAC investigators.