A preliminary study of the geochemistry of methylamines in a salt marsh

Concentrations of three aliphatic amines namely, methylamine, dimethylamine and trimethylamine were monitored in different vegetation zones of an inter-tidal salt marsh over a period encompassing two spring tides in March/April 1992. The analytes were abundant in both the pore-waters and sediments of the marsh, but there was considerable temporal variability in their concentrations. Maximum observed levels were higher than in any previous field studies, particularly for monomethylamine. The methylamines were depleted in pore-waters and sediments during periods of tidal inundation, which supports their suggested role in the osmotic strategies of the flora and fauna of estuarine environments.