Fractionation of Aquatic Dissolved Organic Matter by Mini-cartridge Columns and its Relation to Biodegradability

Abstract

Aquatic dissolved organic matter (DOM) sampled from lakes and rivers was fractionated by Sep-Pack mini-cartridges (PS-2 : polystyrene nonionic resins and tC18 : ODS reverse-phase resins) and the characteristics were discussed with the results of bio-degradability tests. Our experiments showed that trapped organic matter had very low bio-degradability./ The trapped rate increased with incubation time during the degradation tests./ The trapped percentages of DOM were nearly the same as the proportions of refractory DOM in the samples obtained from various waters./ These cartridges could trap more than 70% of fulvic acids extracted from L. Kasumigaura's water. Therefore, we suggest that the trapped rate of DOM by such mini-cartridges gives a useful index of bio-degradability of aquatic DOM.