Nitrate in the Sea. II

Abstract

1. Observations made subsequent to December, 1925, confirm the conclusion that the nitrates in the water of the English Channel, twenty-two miles south-west of Plymouth, are almost entirely utilised by phytoplankton in the summer, and are reformed in early autumn at a greater rate than they are utilised.2. Movements of the water masses are shown to affect the quantity of nutrient salts available for phytoplankton in the waters immediately north of Ushant.3. The effect of land drainage on the quantity of nitrate in the sea is not apparent beyond a few miles to seaward from Plymouth Sound, being masked by the nitrate which is regenerated from dead marine organisms.4. The nitrate in the river and estuarine waters entering Plymouth Sound is nearly all utilised by plants in the rivers and estuaries themselves before reaching the open sea during summer.