Yu-Ping Chin

Bio: Yu-Ping Chin is an academic researcher from Ohio State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Dissolved organic carbon & Organic matter. The author has an hindex of 42, co-authored 92 publications receiving 6812 citations. Previous affiliations of Yu-Ping Chin include United States Geological Survey & Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Molecular weight, polydispersity, and spectroscopic properties of aquatic humic substances.

Abstract: The number- and weight-averaged molecular weights of a number of aquatic fulvic acids, a commercial humic acid, and unfractionated organic matter from four natural water samples were measured by high-pressure size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). Molecular weights determined in this manner compared favorably with those values reported in the literature. Both recent literature values and our data indicate that these substances are smaller and less polydisperse than previously believed. Moreover, the molecular weights of the organic matter from three of the four natural water samples compared favorably to the fulvic acid samples extracted from similar environments

Binding of pyrene to aquatic and commercial humic substances: The role of molecular weight and aromaticity

Abstract: The binding of pyrene to a number of humic substances isolated from various aquatic sources and a commercial humic acid was measured using the solubility enhancement method. The humic materials used in this study were characterized by various spectroscopic and liquid chroma tography methods. A strong correlation was observed between the pyrene binding coefficient, Kdoc, and the molecular weights, molar absorptivities at 280 nm, and aromaticity of the aquatic humic substances. Binding of pyrene to the commercial humic acid, however, was significantly stronger and did not obey the relationships observed between Kdoc and the chemical properties of the aquatic humic substrates. These results suggest that the molecular weight and the aromatic content of the humic substrates exert influences on the binding of nonpolar and planar aromatic molecules and that the physicochemical properties of both humic materials and organic solutes are important in controlling the speciation of nonpolar organic contaminants in na...

Chemical characteristics of fulvic acids from Arctic surface waters: Microbial contributions and photochemical transformations

Abstract: [1] Dissolved organic matter (DOM) originating from the extensive Arctic tundra is an important source of organic material to the Arctic Ocean. Chemical characteristics of whole water dissolved organic matter (DOM) and the fulvic acid fraction of DOM were studied from nine surface waters in the Arctic region of Alaska to gain insight into the extent of microbial and photochemical transformation of this DOM. All the fulvic acids had a strong terrestrial/higher plant signature, with uniformly depleted δ13C values of −28‰, and low fluorescence indices around 1.3. Several of the measured chemical characteristics of the Arctic fulvic acids were related to water residence time, a measure of environmental exposure to sunlight and microbial activity. For example, fulvic acids from Arctic streams had higher aromatic contents, higher specific absorbance values, lower nitrogen content, lower amino acid–like fluorescence and were more depleted in δ15N relative to fulvic acids isolated from lake and coastal surface waters. The differences in the nitrogen signature between the lake and coastal fulvic acids compared to the stream fulvic acids indicated that microbial contributions to the fulvic acid pool increased with increasing water residence time. The photo-lability of the fulvic acids was positively correlated with water residence time, suggesting that the fulvic acids isolated from source waters with larger water residence times (i.e., lakes and coastal waters) have experienced greater photochemical degradation than the stream fulvic acids. In addition, many of the initial differences in fulvic acid chemical characteristics across the gradient of water residence times were consistent with changes observed in fulvic acid photolysis experiments. Taken together, results from this study suggest that photochemical processes predominantly control the chemical character of fulvic acids in Arctic surface waters. Our findings show that hydrologic transport in addition to biogeochemical alteration of the organic matter must be considered in order to predict the ultimate fate of Arctic DOM.

Spectrofluorometric characterization of dissolved organic matter for indication of precursor organic material and aromaticity

Abstract: We studied the fluorescence properties of fulvic acids isolated from streams and rivers receiving predominantly terrestrial sources of organic material and from lakes with microbial sources of organic material. Microbially derived fulvic acids have fluorophores with a more sharply defined emission peak occurring at lower wavelengths than fluorophores in terrestrially derived fulvic acids. We show that the ratio of the emission intensity at a wavelength of 450 nm to that at 500 nm, obtained with an excitation of 370 nm, can serve as a simple index to distinguish sources of isolated aquatic fulvic acids. In our study, this index has a value of ;1.9 for microbially derived fulvic acids and a value of ;1.4 for terrestrially derived fulvic acids. Fulvic acids isolated from four large rivers in the United States have fluorescence index values of 1.4‐1.5, consistent with predominantly terrestrial sources. For fulvic acid samples isolated from a river, lakes, and groundwaters in a forested watershed, the fluorescence index varied in a manner suggesting different sources for the seepage and streamfed lakes. Furthermore, we identified these distinctive fluorophores in filtered whole water samples from lakes in a desert oasis in Antarctica and in filtered whole water samples collected during snowmelt from a Rocky Mountain stream. The fluorescence index measurement in filtered whole water samples in field studies may augment the interpretation of dissolved organic carbon sources for understanding carbon cycling in aquatic ecosystems.

Absorption spectral slopes and slope ratios as indicators of molecular weight, source, and photobleaching of chromophoric dissolved organic matter

Abstract: A new approach for parameterizing dissolved organic matter (DOM) ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra is presented. Two distinct spectral slope regions (275–295 nm and 350–400 nm) within log-transformed absorption spectra were used to compare DOM from contrasting water types, ranging from wetlands (Great Dismal Swamp and Suwannee River) to photobleached oceanic water (Atlantic Ocean). On the basis of DOM size-fractionation studies (ultrafiltration and gel filtration chromatography), the slope of the 275–295-nm region and the ratio of these slopes (SR; 275–295-nm slope : 350–400-nm slope) were related to DOM molecular weight (MW) and to photochemically induced shifts in MW. Dark aerobic microbial alteration of chromophoric DOM (CDOM) resulted in spectral slope changes opposite of those caused by photochemistry. Along an axial transect in the Delaware Estuary, large variations in SR were measured, probably due to mixing, photodegradation, and microbial alteration of CDOM as terrestrially derived DOM transited through the estuary. Further, SR varied by over a factor of 13 between DOM-rich wetland waters and Sargasso Sea surface waters. Currently, there is no consensus on a wavelength range for log-transformed absorption spectra. We propose that the 275–295-nm slope be routinely reported in future DOM studies, as it can be measured with high precision, it facilitates comparison among dissimilar water types including CDOM-rich wetland and CDOM-poor marine waters, and it appears to be a good proxy for DOM MW.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Abstract: Summary) The abstract should follow the structure of the article (relevance, degree of exploration of the problem, the goal, the main results, conclusion) and characterize the theoretical and practical significance of the study results. The abstract should not contain wording echoing the title, cumbersome grammatical structures and abbreviations. The text should be written in scientific style. The volume of abstracts (summaries) depends on the content of the article, but should not be less than 250 words. All abbreviations must be disclosed in the summary (in spite of the fact that they will be disclosed in the main text of the article), references to the numbers of publications from reference list should not be made. The sentences of the abstract should constitute an integral text, which can be made by use of the words “consequently”, “for example”, “as a result”. Avoid the use of unnecessary introductory phrases (eg, “the author of the article considers...”, “The article presents...” and so on.)