The aim of the present work is to show that the insoluble components of mar
ine origin are always present, together with the soluble ones, in both the
coarse fraction and in the fine fraction of the marine aerosol and that the
y make up a non negligible part of the insoluble material in Antarctic snow
. The results obtained show that a large proportion of the insoluble matter
present in high altitude Antarctic snow consists of marine organic matter
involved in the aerosolization process and that the thermolabile fraction (
400 degreesC), largely consisting of fulvic acids, increases with increasin
g altitude. The effect of distance from the sea coast is harder to demonstr
ate for particulate fulvic acids at least over the short distances investig
ated herein (150 km) and owing to the complex orography of the sample areas
.