Studies of the Physical and Chemical Stability of Natural Sea-Surface Films

摘要

The major effort was to measure the total dissolved organic content of surfacefilms and the corresponding subsurface waters by high temperature combustion; the ancillary efforts were: to measure the size, diffusive properties and density of colloids and small particulates in seawater; and secondly, to measure the carbon 14 and carbon 13 signatures of marine surface films. Measurements of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) have been made on approximately one hundred samples of sea-surface films and their corresponding 5-15 cm subsurface waters. Carbon isotope (14C, 13C) measurements of DOC were made on surface films and 5-15 cm subsurface waters collected off Southern California and southeast of Bermuda, while 13C and delta 15 N measurements of suspended organic matter were made for samples collected on shore-to-open-ocean transects off the coast of Maine. Using photon correlation spectroscopy (changes in the Doppler shift in frequency of scattered laser light), rapid aggregation of colloidal particles into larger particulates, especially in un-preserved sample has been observed.