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[B-5.3 Study on the Diagenetic Process from Marine Particulate Matter to Sedimentary Particles and the Related Carbon Cycle]

[Contact Person]

Hodaka Kawahata
Section Director
Marine Geology Department,
Geological Survey of Japan
Higashi 1-1-3, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305 Japan
phone +81-298-54-3765, Fax +81-298-54-3533

[Total Budget for FY1990-1992]

27,083,000 Yen

[Abstract]

　Amino acids are common components of all organisms and constitute a major fraction of nitrogenous compounds in sediments and interstitial waters. They are liable to alteration during early diagenesis. So it is important to analyze the mean concentration and characteristics of amino acids in interstitial waters in order to evaluate the size of organic matter in interstitial water reservoir of the marine sediments. We analysed interstitial water from Antarctic Ocean, equatorial upwelling area in Pacific and Indian Ocean, and hemipelagic regions. The results suggest that the DCAA (dissolved combined amino acids) is strongly affected by sedimentary particles (e.g., siliceous plankton, carbonaceous plankton), that higher ratio of neutral to acidic amino acid fractions in the DFAA (dissolved free amino acids) than in he DCAA was attributed mainly to the reaction or adsorption with carbonates, and that biological and/or chemical reaction rates between the DCAA and the DFAA were much higher than the digestion and/or transformation rates of the THAAS(total hydrolyzable amino acids in the sediments). The mean values of the total DFAA and total DCAA in the interstitial water from four areas of Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans are 4.95μmol/L and 6.16μmol/L, respectively.

[Key Words]

Interstitial water, sediments, early diagenesis, amino acids