Abstract
Natural suspended particles in fresh, estuarine and coastal marine surface waters typically exhibit a narrow range of negative electrophoretic mobilities, generally attributed to organic and/or inorganic surface phases. We present here a study of the mobility characteristics of suspended particles from the Atlantic Ocean. Shipboard mobility measurement show that suspended particles from a wide range of oceanic environments, including particulates influenced by hydrothermal vent activity, are electrophoretically indistinguishable from those from coastal water. Further, a wide range of positive and negative mobilities are observed after ultra-violet irradiation—intended to oxidize organic matter—of the samples. Mobility control of the natural particles by surface-bound organic matter is implicated. Similar measurements in simple electrolytes indicate that positive mobilities after irradiation arise from the adsorption of Ca and/or Mg ions onto inherently negatively charged inorganic surfaces.
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