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Atmospheric deposition of inorganic phosphorus in the Levantine Basin, eastern Mediterranean: Spatial and temporal variability and its role in seawater productivity
Author(s) -
Markaki Z.,
Oikonomou K.,
Kocak M.,
Kouvarakis G.,
Chaniotaki A.,
Kubilay N.,
Mihalopoulos N.
Publication year - 2003
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.2003.48.4.1557
Subject(s) - seawater , mediterranean sea , deposition (geology) , rainwater harvesting , environmental science , mediterranean climate , phosphorus , aerosol , redfield ratio , mediterranean basin , environmental chemistry , oceanography , nitrogen , hydrology (agriculture) , structural basin , nutrient , chemistry , geology , ecology , phytoplankton , paleontology , biology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry
Total and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (IP) was measured in both rainwater and aerosol samples collected from two remote coastal areas: on the island of Crete (Greece) and at Erdemli (Turkey). Particle size distributions of P, as well as total deposition were also measured. Wet and dry deposition of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) from Crete are compared with simultaneously obtained dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and with productivity data from the literature. Our results indicate that (1) in both wet and dry deposition, the DIN/DIP molar ratio ranges between 63 and 349, exceeding by a factor of up to 22 the N/P ratio observed in seawater (ranging from 25 to 28) and (2) atmospheric deposition of DIP could reasonably account for a significant part of the new production (up to 38%) observed during the summer and autumn period (i.e., when water stratification is at its maximum).