Studies of the Organic Matter Composition
in the Bottom Sediments of the Norwegian Sea

V. I. Peresypkin, E. A. Romankevich, and A. V. Aleksandrov

Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Received October 20, 2003; in final form, February 16, 2004

Abstract—The studies were performed in the southern, central, and northern parts of the Norwegian Sea at
three test areas: the Storreg landslide, the Haakon Mosby mud volcano, and the Knipovich Ridge. The concen-
trations of n-alkanes in the bottom sediments at the three test areas varied from 0.53 to 22.07 µg/g of air-dry
sediment or from 0.02 to 1.97% of C_org. An analysis of the molecular composition of the hydrocarbons (HC)
showed that the organic matter of the bottom sediments in the Norwegian Sea consisted of mixed autochthonous
and allochthonous organic material formed by hydrobionts and terrigenous residues of higher plants. The ter-
rigenous organic matter prevailed in the bottom sediments. Within the mass of the sediments, the redox, micro-
bial, and thermolytic processes of the organic matter transformation actively proceeded. The special character
of the distribution of n-alkanes in chromatographic spectra both within the low- and high-molecular ranges, as
well as the increased content of naphthenes, may be interpreted as an indicator of the oil HC generation from
the initial organic matter (the HC synthesized by thermolytic reactions in the mass of the sediments) and of the
HC migration into the upper layers of the sediments. In the cores of the bottom sediments from the Norwegian
Sea, the molecular composition of phenols and lignin was also studied, and their contents were determined. The
concentration of the sum of phenols in the treated cores of the bottom sediments varied from 8.12 to
101.76µg/g, i.e., from 0.15 to 1.15% of C_org. The lignin content calculated by vanillin amounted to 21.04–
459.0µg/g (0.59–7.91% of C_org). The phenolic compounds of p-oxybenzoic, vanillin, syringic, and cinnamic
types constituting the basis of a lignin macromolecule were identified. Because the technogenous and natural
lignins were mainly of terrigenous origins, it was found that lignin was mostly supplied into the deep-water
aquatic area of the Norwegian Sea by the system of marine currents and by aerosols.

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