Work

Spectral absorption coefficients of living phytoplankton and nonalgal biogenous matter: A comparison between the Peru upwelling areaand the Sargasso Sea

Year: 1990

Type: article

Abstract: Absorption coefficients of total particulate (biogenous) matter were determined in the mesotrophic waters of the Peruvian upwelling and the oligotrophic waters of the Sargasso Sea. A method based on spectral criteria was used to partition these coefficients into absorption by living algal cells and by nonalgal (mainly detrital) material. This method was tested by independently measuring absorption by nonalgal material for samples from the Sargasso Sea. The average Chl‐specific absorption coefficients measured in the Sargasso Sea are significantly higher than in the Peruvian upwelling and also higher in the surface layer than in the deep Chl maximum layer. These systematic variations appear to be mainly due to differences in sizes and intracellular pigment concentrations of the cells, inducing differences in the amplitude of the package effect.

Source: Limnology and Oceanography

DOI: 10.4319/lo.1990.35.3.0562

Authors: Annick Bricaud, Dariusz Stramski

Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie

Language: English

Topic: Marine Plankton and Biogeochemistry

Subfield: Oceanography

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Life below water

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: Directorate for Biological Sciences