• Login
    About WHOAS
    View Item 
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Academic Programs
    • WHOI Theses
    • View Item
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Academic Programs
    • WHOI Theses
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of WHOASCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywordsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywords

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Aspects of the biogeochemistry of carbohydrates in aquatic environments

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Mopper_Thesis (8.174Mb)
    Date
    1973-06
    Author
    Mopper, Kenneth  Concept link
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1247
    DOI
    10.1575/1912/1247
    Keyword
     Aquatic ecology; Biogeochemistry; Atlantis II (Ship : 1963-) Cruise AII60; Atlantis II (Ship : 1963-) Cruise AII48; Atlantis II (Ship : 1963-) Cruise AII49; Gosnold (Ship : 1962-1973) Cruise 187 
    Abstract
    The goal of this thesis is to examine the distribution and diagenesis of carbohydrates in aquatic environments. The following questions are studied: what is the carbohydrate composition of sediment in different environments (e.g., deep-sea oxic; shallow-sea oxic; deep-sea anoxic; fresh-water anoxic; brackish-water anoxic, etc.)? How does the environment at the sediment-water interface affect the composition of the carbohydrate input? How do sedimentary carbohydrates compare to plankton carbohydrates? How do metal-carbohydrate interactions and biological degradation affect the diagenesis of carbohydrates in recent sediments? Can fossil carbohydrates be used as a means to elucidate paleo-environments? In order to investigate these questions in a quantitative manner, a liquid chromatographic sugar analyzer sensitive to 10-10 moles was constructed. Various extraction techniques, involving acid hydrolysis and EDTA treatment, were thoroughly examined to determine lability of sugars, sources of contamination, maximum yields, and reproducibility. Furthermore, several experiments were performed to show that sugars extracted from sediment by EDTA were originally associated with in situ metal ion organic complexes. Although the carbohydrate compositions of sediment from different aquatic environments are remarkably similar, the degree of metal binding of carbohydrates varies between oxidizing and reducing sediments and appears to be related to the degree of biological degradation at the sedimentwater interface. In an oxic environment, biological degradation produces a highly metal-bound carbohydrate residue. In a reducing environment, the degree of biological activity is low (relative to oxic environments) and hence the degree of metal binding of the resulting carbohydrate residue is low. There is no evidence for further abiotic, alteration after burial in either environment. Sewage material dumped into a shallow oxic environment is degraded rapidly despite the high content of potentially toxic metals; these metals are probably tied-up in the metal bound carbohydrate residue. Metal binding appears to fix potentially soluble carbohydrates in situ, thereby inhibiting diffusion. This finding undercuts the previous belief that chromatographic separation of organic molecules along mineral surfaces is a significant diagenetic process. The relative abundances of sugars in acid extracts of sediment and plankton from different aquatic environments are similar; this similarity suggests that plankton is the main source of sedimentar carbohydrates. Carbohydrates in sediment may be used to interpret paleo-environmental fluctuations. For example, the degree of metal binding is indicative of the Eh at the sediment-water interface. The glucose and ribose contents of sediment may be used to estimate relative terrigenous and marine organic inputs, respectively. Paleo-eutrophication conditions in the surface waters also may be discerned.
    Description
    Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June, 1973
    Collections
    • WHOI Theses
    • Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry (MC&G)
    Suggested Citation
    Thesis: Mopper, Kenneth, "Aspects of the biogeochemistry of carbohydrates in aquatic environments", 1973-06, DOI:10.1575/1912/1247, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1247
     

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Thumbnail

      Station locations for Atlantis II-73, Atlantis II-77, and Knorr-42 cruises and ALVIN dive tracks in the FAMOUS area 

      Heirtzler, James R.; Hays, Helen C. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1977-02)
      Lists and positions of stations on cruises ATLANTIS II-73, ATLANTIS II-77, KNORR-42 and ALVIN dives on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge during Project FAMOUS are given. Station lists include those for camera, water temperature, ...
    • Thumbnail

      Hydrographic station data : Caribbean Sea, Atlantis II cruise 78 and Knorr cruise 37 

      Metcalf, William G.; Stalcup, Marvel C.; Zemanovic, Marguerite E. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1974-12)
      During Cruise 37 of the Research Vessel KNORR,91 hydrographic stations were occupied,most of them in the general area of the Windward Passage, eastern Cayman Basin, Mona Passage and across the Caribbean Sea from Puerto ...
    • Thumbnail

      Preliminary cruise report ATLANTIS II - cruise 8 : International Indian Ocean Expedition, July 5, 1963 - December 20, 1963 

      Miller, Arthur R.; Risebrough, Robert W. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1963)
      ATLANTIS II was delivered to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on January 31, 1963. After some short cruises she left Woods Hole on July 5 to participate in the International Indian Ocean Expedition, her first ...
    All Items in WHOAS are protected by original copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. WHOAS also supports the use of the Creative Commons licenses for original content.
    A service of the MBLWHOI Library | About WHOAS
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Privacy Policy
    Core Trust Logo