The flux, preservation, and accumulation of organic carbon in marine systems are controlled by various mechanisms including primary p- duction of the surface water, supply of terrigenous organic matter from the surrounding continents, biogeochemical processes in the water column and at the seafloor, and sedimentation rate. For the world s oceans, phytoplankton productivity is by far the largest organic carbon 9 source, estimated to be about 30 to 50 Gt (10 tonnes) per year (Berger et al. 1989; Hedges and Keil 1995). By comparison, rivers contribute 1 about 0. 15 to 0. 23 Gt y of particulate...

This study of organic carbon accumulation in marine environments begins with a review of mechanisms controlling organic carbon deposition, concentrating on results from expeditions into Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea, as well as the Sea of Japan and the northwest coast of Africa. Major objects of the study were the reconstruction of changes in palaeoceanic variables and the history of palaeoclimates in different environments. The contributors also developed more general models for organic carbon accumulation and compared organic-carbon characteristics derived from different analytical...