Samples of particulate material were collected down to 4500 m at a station in the Tasman Sea. The material was analysed for its carbon and nitrogen content. Determinations of total organic phosphorus were also made on water samples collected at the same depths. Some 400 g of carbon were found under 1 m² of sea surface, and the vertical distribution of particulate carbon, nitrogen, and organic phosphorus was closely related to the hydrological structure.