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Stable isotope evidence for entry of sewage-derived organic material into a deep-sea food web

Nature volume 360, pages 153–156 (1992)Cite this article

Abstract

CHRONIC pollution of the open ocean has occurred since 1986 through disposal of municipal sewage sludge at a deep-water (∼2,500 m) dumpsite off the coast of New Jersey. Dispersal and dilution of sewage particulates in surface waters were presumed to be sufficient to prevent or minimize accumulation of detectable amounts of sewage-derived material on the sea floor. Using stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur as tracers of sewage-derived organic material, we show here that this material reaches the sea floor and enters the benthic food web, specifically through surface-deposit feeding activities of the urchin, Echinus affinus and the sea cucumber, Benthodytes sanguinolenta.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA

    Cindy Lee Van Dover

  2. Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08903, USA

    J. F. Grassle

  3. Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA

    Brian Fry & Robert H. Garritt

  4. Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA

    Victoria R. Starczak

Authors
  1. Cindy Lee Van Dover
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  2. J. F. Grassle
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  3. Brian Fry
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  4. Robert H. Garritt
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  5. Victoria R. Starczak
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Dover, C., Grassle, J., Fry, B. et al. Stable isotope evidence for entry of sewage-derived organic material into a deep-sea food web. Nature 360, 153–156 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/360153a0

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