Abstract
OCEANS contain a large absolute amount of organic material in solution. The origin, fate and involvement in biogeochemical processes of this large, but extremely dilute, pool of organic compounds is an enigma to those studying the life and chemistry of the oceans. Recent studies by several workers1–7 have shown that the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content of deep water is relatively constant over a wide range of depths and throughout many regions of the world's oceans. The DOC content averages about 0.60 mg/l. and does not decrease significantly with depth from 400 m to 6,000 m (refs. 2 and 4), nor does the DOC increase in deep waters below highly productive regions such as along the coast of Peru2,4. The range of reported values is from 0.40 to 0.70 mg/l.
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BARBER, R. Dissolved Organic Carbon from Deep Waters resists Microbial Oxidation. Nature 220, 274–275 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/220274a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/220274a0
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