Distribution of thiols in the northwest Atlantic Ocean

Thiol substances can form stable complexes with metals (especially copper and mercury) in the surface ocean that can impact cycling and bioavailability of those elements. In this study, I present seven concentration profiles of cysteine and glutathione, two low-molecular weight thiols, from the coastal northwest Atlantic Ocean and the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) sampling site in the Sargasso Sea, a first for these regions. These two thiols were found in the upper 200 meters of the ocean at all sites, and the total thiol concentration varied from 0.2 to 3.2 nM. The highest concentration of both thiols was found at the deep chlorophyll maximum in most samples. Thiol concentrations were higher on the continental shelf than in the open ocean. The observed distribution of cysteine and glutathione and thermodynamic stability of copper complexes suggests that Cu(I)-dithiol complexes may be the dominant surface ocean copper and thiol species. Mercury-thiol complexes were also present in thermodynamically modeled seawater, which may provide a vector for mercury uptake in the surface ocean.

Department dc:contributor.department

Joint Program in Chemical Oceanography

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Kading, Tristan James

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Carl Lamborg.

• Joint Program in Chemical Oceanography.
• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/79298

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/79298