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Production of biogenic silica by spring diatoms
Author(s) -
Kristiansen Svein,
Farbrot Tove,
Naustvoll LarsJohan
Publication year - 2000
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.2000.45.2.0472
Subject(s) - silicic acid , diatom , biogenic silica , bloom , spring bloom , saturation (graph theory) , spring (device) , dissolved silica , environmental chemistry , chemistry , geology , phytoplankton , botany , mineralogy , oceanography , nutrient , biology , mechanical engineering , mathematics , organic chemistry , combinatorics , dissolution , engineering
The radioactive isotope 32Si was used to measure Si uptake during a spring bloom dominated by the diatom Thalassiosira nordenskioeldii. The diatoms converted virtually all dissolved silicic acid in the surface layer into biogenic silica. The rate of Si uptake was unsaturated in all the experiments conducted during the bloom. The half‐saturation constant for Si uptake declined from 6–12 mmol m‐3 early in the bloom to 2 mmol m‐3 when dissolved silicic acid concentration was low. The highest specific Si‐uptake rates measured (ca. 0.3 d‐1) were comparable to average net growth rates calculated from cell abundance measurements.