ISSN:
1573-5125
Keywords:
biological pump
;
CO2 production
;
ETS activity
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract Respiratory activity and metabolic CO2production of the microplankton in the Otranto Strait (Mediterranean Sea) were determined by monitoring the Electron Transport System activity. Ten stations were repeatedly investigated during two oceanographic surveys in February–March and August 1994. Respiratory activity and CO2 production, estimated from the surface to the bottom, were higher in the euphotic layers (0-200 m) during summer (mean values: Winter = 0.024 μg C h−1 dm−3; Summer = 0.042 μg C h−1 dm−3); in the aphotic zone (deeper than 200 m), the rates were similar throughout different seasons (0.013 and 0.014 μg C h−1 dm−3, respectively). A comparison with data collected by other authors from the euphotic layers of the Mediterranean Sea was made. Respiratory activities decreased from Western to Eastern Mediterranean Basins. The values of CO2 production, integrated between 200 and 1000 m in the Otranto Strait (mean value 237.7 mg C m−2 d−1), were compared with other data collected from the Mediterranean Sea as well as from the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The comparison showed the Otranto Strait to be a site of organic matter oxidation.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1009922403442
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