Review : Surface analytical methods for the monitoring of organic matter dynamics and oil pollution in marine systems

Marine organic matter has a highly reactive nature; it continuously undergoes biotic and abiotic transformations and consequently exhibits high variation in both time and space, with a tendency to accumulate at the interfaces. To study its role in natural systems, it is of crucial importance to preserve its original state. The aim of this review is to present the application 10 of surface analytical methods, chronoamperometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM), for monitoring of organic matter dynamics and oil pollution in the marine environment. Combined methodological approach is based on direct characterization of marine organic matter from micro to nano level. Electrochemical approach meets the requirements for monitoring purposes due to the simple and fast analysis of a large number of natural seawater samples enabling simultaneous differentiation of organic constituents. On the other hand, atomic force microscopy allows direct visualization of biotic and 15 abiotic particles and provides an insight into structural organization of marine organic matter at microand nanometre scales. Application of these methods can contribute to the prediction of mucilage events and to the monitoring of antropogenic oil pollution in aquatic systems. Moreover, understanding the dynamics of organic matter in seawater is of crucial importance for improvement of national legislation on environmental protection, sustainable development and for management of marine systems. 20