The Determination of Lignin in Marine Sediments and Particulate Form in Seawater

Abstract
Alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation was used to produce vanillin and syringaldehyde from the lignin fraction of marine sediments and particulate matter filtered from seawater. Results indicate that this material constitutes a substantial proportion (1-14%) of the organic matter in the sediments and that a general background level (20-60 mcg/1) of material in the suspended fraction is attributable to lignin. The highest levels were found in the vicinity of forest industry plants.