Abstract
Forty-three samples of suspended matter and sediment from various locations in the river Rhine delta were analysed by means of pyrolysis—mass spectrometry and pyrolysis—gas chromatography—mass spectrometry. Autochthonously produced bioorganic substances (peptides, carbohydrates and lipids) and river-transported allochthonous material (lignin) were found to be the major organic constituents of these samples. Differences and similarities between the various samples are discussed in terms of varying contributions of their bulk constituents. It is concluded that the pyrolysis techniques used are very suitable for the analysis of non-volatile organic matter in a large number of samples.