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EUTROPHICATION OF A TIDAL ESTUARY
Author(s) -
Barlow John P.,
Lorenzen Carl J.,
Myren Richard T.
Publication year - 1963
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.1963.8.2.0251
Subject(s) - estuary , phytoplankton , eutrophication , plankton , organic matter , oceanography , environmental science , photosynthesis , salinity , chlorophyll a , algae , nutrient , ecology , biology , botany , geology
The effect of heavy fertilization of the estuary of the Forge River on growth and photosynthesis of the phytoplankton has been studied over a 2‐year period. Although there is distinct stratification in salinity, the nutrients added from the river are carried seaward by the circulation without significant tendency to accumulate in the deeper layer. Nearly all the large amounts of organic matter accumulated in the estuary can be accounted for as being produced locally by the dense populations of plankton algae both from the relation between chlorophyll a and organic matter, and from consideration of the rate of oxidation of allocthonous organic matter in the estuary. The region provides an unique environment for the growth of phytoplankton which is shown in the photosynthesis: respiration ratios, and in the rates of photosynthesis per unit of chlorophyll, or assimilation numbers, that have been observed.