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Abstract Available data on synthesis, input, and decomposition of organic matter (OM) in the water column and recent bottom sediments of the World Ocean are generalized. The most reliable values of OM production and masses in the ocean, the total supply of organic carbon, and the input of terrigenous OM with coastal erosion, river runoff, and eolian matter are estimated. Maps of fossilization coefficients, distribution, and accumulation of OM in recent bottom sediments of the World Ocean are presented. A numerical expression is proposed for the main circumcontinental pattern of OM accumulation in the ocean. The group and elemental compositions of living matter of the ocean, land, and the Earth as a whole and the organic composition of bottom sediments are briefly considered.
Romankevich et al. (Mon,) studied this question.