ABSTRACT

A homologous series of C₅-C₁₇ ω-oxocarboxylic acids were detected in the deep-sea sediment trap samples collected from the Japan Trench, and in the bottom sediments from the North Pacific by using capillary GC and GC-MS techniques. Their distributions were characterized by the predominance of 9-oxononanoic acid (C₉), being similar to the distribution patterns reported for remote marine aerosols. Since the ω-oxoacids are mostly produced in the marine atmosphere by the photochemical degradation of biogenic unsaturated fatty acids and supplied to the surface ocean by precipitation, these compounds are presumably transported in association with settling particles from the ocean surface to the deep-sea environments. Thus, the ω-oxocarboxylic acids are potential tracers of organic matter originating in the atmosphere and transported to deep-ocean waters.