Table of Contents

Preface xi Acknowledgments xix Chapter 1. Metabolic Synthesis 1 Chapter 2. Chemical Biomarker Applications to Ecology and Paleoecology 19 Chapter 3. Stable Isotopes and Radiocarbon 30 Chapter 4. Analytical Chemical Methods and Instrumentation 49 Chapter 5. Carbohydrates: Neutral and Minor Sugars 79 Chapter 6. Proteins: Amino Acids and Amines 98 Chapter 7. Nucleic Acids and Molecular Tools 127 Chapter 8. Lipids: Fatty Acids 144 Chapter 9. Isoprenoid Lipids: Steroids, Hopanoids, and Triterpenoids 169 Chapter 10. Lipids: Hydrocarbons 185 Chapter 11. Lipids: Alkenones, Polar Lipids, and Ether Lipids 207 Chapter 12. Photosynthetic Pigments: Chlorophylls, Carotenoids, and Phycobilins 221 Chapter 13. Lignins, Cutins, and Suberins 248 Chapter 14. Anthropogenic Markers 267 Appendix I. Atomic Weights of Elements 287 Appendix II. Useful SI Units and Conversion Factors 291 Appendix III. Physical and Chemical Constants 293 Glossary 295 Bibliography 309 Index 385

About the Author

Thomas S. Bianchi is professor of oceanography at Texas A&M University. Elizabeth A. Canuel is professor of marine science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary.

Reviews

"Bianchi and Canuel have teamed up to create a comprehensive work on chemical biomarkers in aquatic ecosystems... [T]he first textbook of its kind ..."--Choice "Chemical Biomarkers in Aquatic Ecosystems is a significant contribution to the field of organic biogeochemistry... The combined discussions of both the biochemical formation of the biomarkers, as well as of their utility as process indicators is of particular importance and almost unique to this book. Thus, the reader will be able to understand the biogeochemical basis for the use of these compounds as biomarkers, rather than taking their applicability on faith. This alone is a significant difference between this book and all others, and puts Chemical Biomarkers in Aquatic Systems in a class of its own."--Josef P. Werne, American Mineralogist