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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEARSHORE ENVIRONMENT OFF THE SOUTH COAST OF RNVERS ISLAND, ANTARCTIC PENINSULA 1
Author(s) -
Warnke Detlef A.,
Richter Joseph,
Oppenheimer Carl H.
Publication year - 1973
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.1973.18.1.0131
Subject(s) - photic zone , oceanography , water column , total organic carbon , sediment , geology , deposition (geology) , sedimentation , nitrate , pelagic zone , productivity , environmental science , latitude , nutrient , phytoplankton , environmental chemistry , ecology , chemistry , geomorphology , macroeconomics , geodesy , economics , biology
Sediment and water samples were taken at 17 stations in a nearshore area off the southern coast of Anvers Island, Antarctic Peninsula. The sediments are diamietons and display great lateral variability. Their organic carbon content falls within the range of values for oceanic sediments; variations can perhaps be explained in terms of specific local environments of deposition. Silica concentrations in the interstitial water of these sediments seems to be controlled by biogenic processes of sedimentation. Bacteria are preferentially associated with sediments rich in clay‐sized materials and show little or no correlation with organic carbon in these samples; the surface properties of the fine sediment may be important. Bacterial numbers in the water column are similar to those reported for open‐ocean areas below 200 in in lower latitudes. Nutrient values are high, but many nitrite values are low relative to nitrate as in lower latitudes before the growth season and in the open ocean below the euphotic zone. These similarities may indicate that primary productivity at the time and place of investigation was low.