Research report 2009 - Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology

Dissolved organic matter in the oceans - a large mystery in marine research

Authors
Dittmar, Thorsten; Schloesser, Manfred
Departments
Summary
The Max Planck Research Group for Marine Geochemistry studies dissolved organic matter in the ocean, an important component of global element cycles. Marine dissolved organic matter accumulates since thousands of years to the largest organic carbon pool in the oceans and is mainly of microbial origin. The controlling mechanisms behind its turnover, however, are unknown. The Max Planck Research Group applies ultra high resolution mass spectrometry to obtain answers to the fundamental questions regarding the cycling of marine organic matter.

For the full text, see the German version.

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