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We report measurements of pore-water dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved organic nitrogen, total dissolved carbohydrates, dissolved free monosaccharides, and ammonium in recovered deep-sea sediments from the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (PAP), Northeast Atlantic. There were distinct maxima close to the sediment-water interface of these constituents at all times of the year. The very high diffusive effluxes calculated from these porewater distributions were not compatible with simultaneous sediment trap measurements of particulate organic carbon, nitrogen, and carbohydrate fluxes toward the seafloor. Effluxes calculated from pore-water DOC distributions in recovered cores from another Atlantic deep-sea site, showing almost identical maxima as those at PAP, were more than an order of magnitude greater than simultaneous in situ chamber DOC flux measurements. We suggest that the dissolved organic matter maxima are predominantly artifacts induced by lysis of, or leakage from, mainly bacterial biomass resulting from decompression and/or warming during recovery of the sediment cores from the abyssal seafloor. Temperature elevation during core recovery from the abyss gives a N 2 saturation of about 150%, and the combined effect of warming and decompression results in a CO 2 saturation of about 135%, which together plausibly are associated with bubble formation creating cell bursting. Previous estimates of microbial biomass in abyssal sediments may be underestimates because of the difficulty of counting lysed bacterial cells. Since exoenzymes are inducible, previous measurements of their activities in recovered abyssal sediments may be overestimates.The deep-sea floor (water depth greater than 2,000 m) covers almost 60% of the surface of the planet Earth.

The concept of interfacing open tubular liquid chromatography (OTLC) to electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS) is here introduced. This combination has the potential of becoming a powerful and generic tool for separation and quantification of various complex mixtures. We can demonstrate here how easy and straightforward it is to connect an open capillary LC column to nano-ESI, simply by drawing the column through a stainless steel tube onto which the high voltage (HV) is supplied. This method is compared with applying the HV to a gold-coated column tip and the standard dynamic nanospray interface supplied by the ESI-MS manufacturer. Reliability and stability are documented. OTLC-ESI-MS is demonstrated by separation of fatty acids in the negative mode.

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Hydroperoxides formed by autoxidation of common fragrance terpenes are strong allergens and known to cause allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), a common skin disease caused by low molecular weight chemicals. Until now, no suitable methods for chemical analyses of monoterpene hydroperoxides have been available. Their thermolability prohibits the use of gas chromatography and their low UV-absorption properties do not promote sensitive analytical methods by liquid chromatography based on UV detection. In our study, we have investigated different liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) ionization techniques, electrospray ionization (ESI), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI), for detection of hydroperoxides from linalool and limonene.Flow injection analysis was used to evaluate the three different techniques to ionize the monoterpene hydroperoxides, linalool hydroperoxide and limonene hydroperoxide, by estimating the signal efficacy under experimental conditions for positive and negative ionization modes. The intensities for the species [M+H]+ and [M+H-H2O]+ in positive ionization mode and [M-H]- and [M-H-H2O]- in negative ionization mode were monitored. It was demonstrated that the mobile phase composition and instrumental parameters have major influences on the ionization efficiency of these compounds. ESI and APCI were both found to be appropriate as ionization techniques for detection of the two hydroperoxides. However, APPI was less suitable as ionization technique for the investigated hydroperoxides.