Analysis of naturally occurring organic compounds allows the investigation of many different types biological and environmental processes that occur in the ocean. These molecular biomarkers can be used to determine such things as the origin and fate of organic matter, diagenetic pathways, as chronological dating tools, and for the reconstruction of paleoconditions such as temperature, salinity, oxygen, water circulation, sea level stands and climate. We can also use these organic compounds to look into metabolic and physiological processes of marine organisms including such things as buoyancy considerations, insulation, response to toxic chemicals, and sound transduction. All of these processes allow marine organic chemists to interface with investigators of other disciplines to help resolve many of the mysteries of the sea.
Representative publications:
Van Vleet, E.S. and Quinn, J.G. 1979. Early diagenesis of fatty acids and isoprenoid alcohols in estuarine and coastal sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 43(3): 289-303.
Van Vleet, E.S. and Quinn, J.G. 1979. Diagenesis of marine lipids in ocean sediments. Deep-Sea Research 26(11A): 1225-1236.
Van Vleet, E.S. and Williams, P.M. 1983. Surface potential and film pressure measurements in seawater systems. Limnology and Oceanography 28(3): 401-414.
Van Vleet, E.S., Candeleri, S., McNeillie, J., Reinhardt, S.B., Mangini, M. and A. Zwissler. 1984. Neutral lipid composition of eleven species of Caribbean sharks. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 79B:549-554.
Williams, P.M., Carlucci, A.F., Henrichs, S.M., Van Vleet, E.S., Horrigan, S.G., Reid, F.M.H. and Robertson, K.J. 1986. Chemical and microbiological studies of sea-surface films in the southern Gulf of California and off the west coast of Baja, California. Marine Chemistry 19: 17-98.
Ames, A., E.S. Van Vleet and W.M. Sackett. 1996. The use of stable carbon isotope analysis for determining the dietary habits of the Florida manatee, Trichechus manatus latirostris. Marine Mammal Science. 12:555-563.
Ames, A.L., E.S. Van Vleet and J.E. Reynolds. 2002. Comparison of lipids in selected tissues of the Florida manatee (Order Sirenia) and bottlenose dolphin (Order cetacea; Suborder Odontoceti). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. 132:625-634.
Ames, A.L. and E.S. Van Vleet. 2004. Lipids of seagrasses and freshwater plants from Southwest Florida. In preparation for submission to Phytochemistry.
