VERTICAL TRANSPORT OF LIPID IN SEAWATER

Lipids in seawater act as solvents and transporters of lipophilic organic pollutants. To investigate a possible transport route of lipophilic pollutants, the vertical flux of lipid was quantified during an annual cycle in the northern Baltic Sea. The lipid content in both sedimenting material and different size fractions of seawater was analyzed. During the year, 8 g lipid m-2 sedimented out from the photic zone to the benthic system. The sedimentation of lipid accounted for 300 to 400 % of the average standing stock of pelagic lipid and was concentrated in the spring bloom period (April-June) when 70 % of the total lipid sedimentation occurred. About 30 % of the produced pelagic lipid settled out from the system. In seawater the lipid maximum occurred at the end of the spring bloom, shortly after nutrient depletion, indicating a stress response in the algae. Since lipid sedimentation is concentrated in the spring bloom, removal of lipophilic organic pollutants may be important during this period.