Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS08 Processes at the Benthic Interface (Environmental Connections)

Date: Monday, February 12, 2001, Time: 11:00:00 AM

Location: Ruidoso/Pecos

Kline, S, W, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, USA, skline@odu.edu

Burdige, D, J, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, USA, dburdige@odu.edu

FLUORESCENCE IN ESTUARINE SEDIMENT PORE WATERS DETERMINED BY EXCITATION-EMISSION MATRIX SPECTROSCOPY (EEMS)

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in pore waters from the Chesapeake Bay and the Mid-Atlantic Shelf Slope Break were analyzed for their fluorescence using EEMS. In such EEMS spectra peaks generally have been attributed to the fluorescence of humic-like and protein-like materials. Based on the positions of their excitation and emission wavelengths, several humic-like peaks (A,C,and M) have been observed in past water column studies. These studies have also suggested that peak M may be a blue shifted form of peak C, possibly produced by in situ diagenetic processes. Examination of sediment pore water samples indicated the occurance of these peaks along with a previously unreported fourth humic-like peak (a). These peaks (A and M, a and C) appear to exist in pairs in distinct emission bands, similar to that observed for protein-like fluorescence peaks in authentic amino acid and protein standards. These results will be examined in the context of differentiating between types of DOM material present in sediment pore waters (terrestrial versus marine) and possible mechanisms of DOM remineralization in sediments.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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