2.2.2. Organic matter bioavailability
Potentially bioavailable carbon was assayed in aerobic long-term laboratory incubations. To assess the bioavailability of bulk sedimentary OM, approximately 15 g of sediment fromeach type used for quality assessment was submerged 30 s into liquid-N2 and transferred into acid cleaned (10% HCl) 100 ml glass incubation flasks. Incubations were initiated by adding inoculates composed of an assemblage of natural microorganisms (i.e., ~100 μL of 1:1 mix of fresh-untreated sediment and
sterile artificial sea water).