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Microphotometric analysis of individual particle absorption spectra 1
Author(s) -
Iturriaga R.,
Mitchell B. G.,
Kiefer D. A.
Publication year - 1988
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.1988.33.1.0128
Subject(s) - flattening , irradiance , absorption (acoustics) , context (archaeology) , particle (ecology) , absorption spectroscopy , optics , pigment , analytical chemistry (journal) , physics , chemistry , materials science , chromatography , biology , ecology , astronomy , paleontology , organic chemistry
We describe a microphotometric procedure to measure directly the absorption efficiency factor ( Q a ) a ) of individual phytoplankton cells and detrital particles. The technique has spectral resolution comparable to traditional spectrophotometric techniques and allows direct measurement of absorption by the major photosynthetic pigments. This procedure was used to study the photoadaptive response in Q a (λ) for the diatom Navicula saprophila grown at high and low irradiance. Observed spectral flattening of Q a (λ) for the low light culture is interpreted in the context of the theory of absorption by discrete particles, which predicts nonlinearity between Q a and intracellular pigment concentration. Measurement of Q a (λ) for individual field particles revealed great intrasample variability in spectral shape and magnitude.