Sources of natural hydrocarbons in the marine environment some processes controlling their distribution

SOURCES OF NATURAL HYDROCARBONS IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT SOME PROCESSES CONTROLLING THEIR DISTRIBUTION (Fig. 2) 

To understand the cycle of natural hydrocarbons in the ocean, we need to know the size and the nature of different reservoirs in the marine biota and the flux and direction of organic carbon to them. Virtually all the organic matter of internal origin in the oceans is originally derived from photosynthetic marine algae in the euphotic zone. 

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