抄録
Sediment traps were deployed at 5 layers from 0.1 to 5.25 km depths in the northern North Pacific (47°51.1'N; 176°20.6'E, 5.3 km deep) in 1978. Organic compositions of fresh sediments, phytoplankton, particulate matter and bottom sediment were examined and following results were obtained. 1) Unsaturated fatty acids were found to be abundant in the fresh sediments from 0.1 through 5.25 km depths, the particulate matter from the euphotic layer and phytoplankton, while no unsaturated fatty acid was detectered in the particulate matter from the water layers below 500 m depth and bottom sediment. 2) All of the fresh sediment samples from various depths were found to be rich in mannose, while glucose was a main components of the particulate matter from deep waters upon acid hydrolysis. Judging from these facts, it can be concluded that the organic materials of the fresh sediments were mainly derived from these of the phytoplankton in the euphotic layer and phytoplanktonic organic materials were transported rapidly to the deep waters. The fecal materials produced by zooplankton is assumed tentatively to be the most probable agent to conduct vertical transportation of organic materials to deep waters rapidly.