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Silicon‐32 specific activities in coastal waters of the world oceans
Author(s) -
Lai D.,
Nijampurkar V. N.,
Somayajulu B. L. K.,
Koide M.,
Goldberg E. D.
Publication year - 1976
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.1976.21.2.0285
Subject(s) - sponge , oceanography , silicon , environmental science , range (aeronautics) , environmental chemistry , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , chemistry , paleontology , materials science , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , composite material
Measurements of 32 Si specific activities in siliceous sponges collected from the coastal waters of the world oceans provide insight into the mixing processes of waters having radically different silicon concentrations. The measured specific activities of in sponges, which should correspond to the values of dissolved silicon (and 32 Si) in the coastal waters of the oceans, lie in the range of 4–80 dpm of 32 Si kg ‒1 SiO 2 . They are inversely correlated with the concentrations of dissolved silicon in coastal waters from which the samples were collected, and specific activities in the sponges are lower than those measured in surface (0–150 m) ocean waters by direct sampling. In coastal regions there occurs a considerable influx of low specific activity continental waters and high specific activity intermediate and deep waters from the open ocean; the mixing between these various types of water, sampled by the sponge during its life time, determines the 32 Si specific activity in sponges. Hence 32 Si data in sponges should be useful for determining the budget of silicon in coastal regions.