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Bioassay of Water from a Concretion‐Forming Marl Lake
Author(s) -
EYSTER CLYDE
Publication year - 1958
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1958.3.4.0455
Subject(s) - marl , concretion , phosphate , bioassay , mineralogy , environmental chemistry , impurity , chemistry , geology , biology , ecology , biochemistry , structural basin , paleontology , organic chemistry
Using a pure, bacteria‐free culture of Nostoc muscorum as a bioassay test organism, it was found that the water of Bass Lake, Livingston Co., Michigan, had a severe phosphate deficiency and less severe deficiencies of K, Fe, Mn, and Mg. Emission spectrographic analyses showed that the concretions had Ca as the principal constituent, Mg as the major impurity, and Fe, Si, Mn, Al, and Sr as minor impurities. When boiled, the lake water formed a white precipitate of CaCO 3 , which could be prevented by the addition of a very small amount of K 2 HPO 4 . It is suggested that concretion formation in marl lakes is associated with extreme phosphate deficiency.