Dissolved organic matter and heterotrophic microneuston in the surface microlayers of the North Atlantic
Sieburth, J.McN.; Willis, P.-J.; Johnson, K.M.; Burney, C.M.; La Voie, D.M.; Hinga, K.R.; Caron, D.A.; French III, F.W.; Johnson, P.W.; Davis, P.G. (1976). Dissolved organic matter and heterotrophic microneuston in the surface microlayers of the North Atlantic. Science (Wash.) 194(4272): 1415-1418
In: Science (Washington). American Association for the Advancement of Science: New York, N.Y. ISSN 0036-8075; e-ISSN 1095-9203, more
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| Keywords |
Aquatic organisms > Heterotrophic organisms
Chemical compounds > Organic compounds > Carbohydrates
Chemical compounds > Phosphorus compounds > Phosphates > Nucleotides > ATP
Layers > Water column > Surface layers > Surface microlayer
Suspended organic matter
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top |
- Sieburth, J.McN.
- Willis, P.-J.
- Johnson, K.M.
- Burney, C.M.
|
- La Voie, D.M.
- Hinga, K.R.
- Caron, D.A.
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- French III, F.W.
- Johnson, P.W.
- Davis, P.G.
|
| Abstract |
Dissolved organic carbon, carbohydrates, and adenosine triphosphate in the size fraction 0.2 to 3 {mu}m and 3to 1000 {mu}m are significantly enriched in the upper 150 - {mu}m surface layer compared to subsurface water, mean enrichment factors being1.6, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.1, respectively. When calculated as a 0.1 - {mu}m microlayer of wet surfactants, the mean concn of organic matter was 2.9 g per liter, of which carbohydrates accounted for 28%. The data for plant pigments and particulate adenosine triphosphate indicated that bacterioneuston was enriched at 7 of 9 stations while phagotrophic protists were enriched at 5 stations. Instances of enrichment and inhibition were verified by cultural data for bacteria and amoebas. The observations indicate that the surface microlayers are largely heterotrophic microcosms, which can be as rich as laboratory cultures, and that an appreciable part of the dissolved organic carbon is carbohydrate of phytoplankton origin, released and brought to the surface by migrating and excreting phagotrophic protists |
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