Nitrate and ammonium uptake in Antarctic waters1

• Published in: Limnology and Oceanography
• Main Author: Olson, Robert J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1980
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Ross Sea; Scotia Sea
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.1980.25.6.1064; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.4319%2Flo.1980.25.6.1064; https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.1980.25.6.1064

Nitrate and ammonium uptake rates were measured by the 15 N tracer technique in Antarctic waters. The ratio urn:x-wiley:00243590:media:lno19802561064:lno19802561064-math-0001 averaged 0.54 in the Scotia Sea in early spring and 0.40 in the Ross Sea in summer, indicating that NO 3 − and NH 4 + contribute about equally to primary production in these regions and that a large proportion of the primary production is exported from the surface layers. Uptake rates in laboratory experiments increased with increasing temperature and the relative uptake of NH 4 + was positively correlated with increasing mean ambient NH 4 + concentration and depth in the water column.