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Fluxes of Major Biochemicals in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean

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Dynamics and Characterization of Marine Organic Matter

Part of the book series: Ocean Sciences Research (OSR) ((OCRE,volume 2))

Abstract

A coordinated study of the geochemistry of major biochemical classes has been carried out in the equatorial Pacific Ocean (EqPac) as part of the U.S. Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS). Amino acids, carbohydrates, pigments, and lipids were measured at the molecular level in plankton, sediment trap material, and sediments along a transect from 12°N to 12°S along 140°W to address questions related to the efficiency and dynamics of the carbon pump in the equatorial Pacific and how processes in the water column affect the burial of biogenic components. Here we present an overview of our findings, discussing fluxes and relative reactivities of the biochemical classes. We conclude with an inventory of the major particulate biochemicals in the equatorial Pacific, in which the proportion of organic carbon amenable to conventional molecular-level analyses decreases from ~82% in plankton to ~20% in sediments, demonstrating the need for new analytical approaches to characterize residual macromolecular material.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, 10 Ocean Science Circle, Savannah, GA, 31411, USA

    Stuart G. Wakeham

  2. Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Cindy Lee

  3. School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Box 357940, Seattle, WA, 98195-7940, USA

    John I. Hedges

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  1. Stuart G. Wakeham
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  2. Cindy Lee
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  3. John I. Hedges
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Aichi Prefectural University, Aichi-gun, Japan

    Nobuhiko Handa

  2. Institute for Hydrospheric-Atmospheric Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

    Eiichiro Tanoue

  3. Institute of Biological Sciences, Tsukuba University, Tsukuba, Japan

    Takeo Hama

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Wakeham, S.G., Lee, C., Hedges, J.I. (2000). Fluxes of Major Biochemicals in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean. In: Handa, N., Tanoue, E., Hama, T. (eds) Dynamics and Characterization of Marine Organic Matter. Ocean Sciences Research (OSR), vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1319-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1319-1_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5451-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1319-1

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