Sources of polar/water-soluble organic compounds conjunctly with apolar
biomarkers were characterized in natural organic matter. This multi-biomarker
approach was accomplished by a simple analytical method consisting of extraction
with dichloromethane:methanol (2:1, v/v), silylation and analysis by gaschromatography-
mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Polar and apolar biomarkers, derived
mainly from higher plants and microorganisms, were used as tracers of processes
occurring in the environmental compartments and registered in aerosol, soil and
sediment samples. Sugars (monosaccharides, disaccharides, anhydrosugars and sugar
alcohols) were utilized to trace seasonal variation inputs of biogenic organic carbon to
aerosols over a pristine forest and the passage of a smoke plume from the long-range
transport wildfire emissions. Sugars and fatty acid methyl esters were target
compounds used to better understand the plant-microorganism dynamics in a ryegrass
soil over a one-year period. Distributions and abundances of straight chain
homologous series (n-alkanes, n-alkanols, n-alkanoic acids), cyclic components (e.g.,
diterpenoids, triterpenoids, steroids) and polar biomakers (e.g., sugars) were
determined for sediment and smoke samples. In the first study, the transport and
alterations of major terrestrial biomarkers were assessed for small rivers draining the
northwestern US. In the latter, biomarkers and their thermal alteration derivatives
were identified in smoke emissions from known temperate and semi-arid green
vegetation to be applied as tracers of wildfires. This work demonstrated that a multi-biomarker
tracer analysis is a useful tool for describing and understanding the
biogeochemistry occurring in various environmental compartments. / Graduation date: 2006
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28597 |
| Date | 01 June 2006 |
| Creators | Medeiros, Patricia Matheus de |
| Contributors | Simoneit, Bernd R. T. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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