Controls on the Distribution of Organic Species in Marine Subsurface Environments

9618179 Seewald虽然我们知道海洋环境中的大部分有机物是在高温下产生的，而且有机物种在海水、沉积物和排气系统中的各种物理、化学和生物过程中起着重要作用，但实际上我们对这些有机化合物在高温高压下的稳定性或生产和反应的速率一无所知。缺乏认识的一个原因是海洋热液系统相对难以在野外进行详细的有机化学分析。在这项研究中，首席研究员将通过研究几种有机化合物（特别是芳烃）的稳定性关系以及在专门为高压、高温工作设计的实验室中其反应的可逆性来绕过这一限制。首席研究员预计，这些研究将大大增加我们目前对海洋热液系统中这些物质发生的过程和条件的理解。* * *

9618179 Seewald Although it is known that much of the organic matter in the marine environment is generated at high temperature and that organic species play an important role in a variety of physical, chemical, and biological processes in the seawater, sediments, and vent systems, virtually nothing is known about the high- temperature and high-pressure stability or rates of production and reaction of such organic compounds. One reason for this lack of understanding is the relative inaccessibility of marine hydrothermal systems to detailed organic chemical analysis in the field. In this study the principal investigator will get around this limitation by studying stability relationships of several types of organic compounds (especially aromatics) and the reversibility of their reactions in a laboratory especially designed for high-pressure, high-temperature work. The principal investigator expects that these studies will greatly increase our current understanding of the processes and conditions responsible for the occurrence of these substances in marine hydrothermal systems. ***