Benthic fluxes of inorganic nutrients are known to play important roles in carbon and nitrogen cycling in the marine environment. At the same time fluxes of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from marine sediments represent a poorly quantified component of sedimentary organic matter remineralization that may be significant when compared to these inorganic benthic fluxes. The long-term goals of studies in this area are to examine benthic fluxes of DOM in terms of their quantitative relationship to processes associated with the early diagenesis of sedimentary organic matter. This research initially will address these goals using the following approach: 1. development of the high temperature catalytic oxidation techniques for DOC and DON analyses at Old Dominion University; 2. development of procedures for the determination of benthic fluxes of DOM in studies of Chesapeake Bay sediments; and 3. preliminary studies characterizing DOM in marine sediments.
