Chlorophylls and their degradation products in the deep pigment maximum layer of the tropical North Atlantic
Gieskes, W.W.C.; Kraay, G.; Tijssen, S.B. (1978). Chlorophylls and their degradation products in the deep pigment maximum layer of the tropical North Atlantic. Neth. J. Sea Res. 12(2): 195-204
In: Netherlands Journal of Sea Research. Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ): Groningen; Den Burg. ISSN 0077-7579; e-ISSN 1873-1406, meer
|  |
| Auteurs | | Top |
- Gieskes, W.W.C.
- Kraay, G.
- Tijssen, S.B.
|
|
|
| Abstract |
In the tropical Atlantic between Africa and 40°W observations were made on a continuous subsurface layer with relatively high plant pigment concentrations. The pigment maximum layer deepened gradually from east to west to a depth of 150 m at the mid-ocean stations. There it was found closest to the bottom of the euphotic zone, in association with a nitrite maximum. Thin-layer chromatography of samples taken in the layer revealed the presence of much chlorophyll b and of relatively high concentrations of chlorophyll a and b derivatives and allomers. Consumption of algae by microzooplankton and bacteria is presumably the origin of most of the decomposition products; the contribution of these products to the total amount of chlorophyll-like pigments present in the maximum layer increased with increasing distance from the shore. It is suggested that while chlorophyll decomposition goes on throughout the euphotic zone, only at depth the rate of photo-oxidation of its products is low enough to allow accumulation of light-sensitive compounds. |
|
