Widespread distribution and molecular diversity of diatom frustule bound aliphatic long chain polyamines (LCPAs) in marine sediments

► LC-MS and NMR used to characterize diatom frustule bound LCPAs in Southern Ocean, Bering Sea and Northeast Pacific sediments. ► Clear regional differences are shown in composition and structural characteristics. ► SEM/EDXA showed that purified LCPAs re-direct the formation of silica nanospheres in vitro. ► LCPAs constitute useful biological markers of diatom input to sediments.