Raman scattering and fluorescence spectra of water from the sea surface microlayer

The Raman scattering and fluorescence spectra were first obtained for the water of sea surface microlayers (SML) of 1 and 0.2 mm thickness (sampled with a Garrett net and a Lapshin capillary sampler, respectively). For reference, samples of water below the SML (from the layer of 0.5 m) were also taken. Substantial differences were found for the values of the normalized intensity of the fluorescence (the number of photons from the volume unit in response to a unit of excitation) between the aqueous humic substances and, presumably, oil hydrocarbons and proteins. Some slight but analyzable differences in the shapes and location of spectral bands were also found. These latter allow one to determine the content of salts and the characteristics of complicated organic compounds in the SML and to compare them to those within the water volume.