Abstract
The regeneration of nutrients in the benthic boundary layer is discussed with examples from a stagnant basin of the Baltic Sea, from the continental slope off West Africa, and from deep oceanic sediments of the Central Pacific. Under stagnant conditions in fiord waters and sediments more phosphate and less ammonia are regenerated than would be predicted from chemical decomposition models, but total carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are found in the expected amounts. The excess of dissolved phosphate is related to dissolution of inorganic iron-manganese-phosphate precipitates and the deficit in ammonia is thought to reflect decomposition of nitrogen-deficient organic substances rather than the relatively nitrogen-rich substances used in the chemical decomposition model. At the continental margin off West Africa, horizontal and vertical concentration profiles of nutrient constituents in the interstitial water indicate an increased flux of nutrients from the organic-rich sediments to the waters of the lower continental slope. The bottom water there contains increased amounts of dissolved phosphate and is depleted in oxygen. It is suggested that this is due to the combined effect of increased nutrient regeneration from within the sediments and from the sediment surface. Sediments from the deep Pacific Ocean characteristically show decreasing organic carbon and nitrogen depth-profiles near the depositional interface. This could be attributed to organic decomposition processes, i.e., to regeneration of nutrients. The loss of organic carbon and nitrogen from the sediment to the water equals possible molecular diffusion transport in the form of nitrate and dissolved organic constituents.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Almgren, T., Danielsson, L. G., Dryssen, D., Johannson, T., and Nyquist, G., 1974, Release of inorganic matter from sediments in a stagnant basin, Thalassia Jugoslavia (in press).
Berner, R. A., 1974, Kinetic models for early diagenesis of nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and silicon in anoxic marine sediments, in: The Sea, Vol. 5 (E. Goldberg, ed.), Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 427–450.
Billen, G., 1974, Nitrification in the Scheldt estuary, Belgium and the Netherlands (submitted for publication).
v. Bodungen, B., v. Brockel, K., Smetacek, V., and Zeittschel, B., 1974, Ecological studies on the plankton in Kiel Bight. I. Phytoplankton, Merentutkimuslaitoksen Julkaisu Havsforskningsinstitutets Skrift No. 239, Helsinki.
Hallberg, R. O., Bagander, L. E., Engvall, A. G., and Schippel, F. A., 1972, Method for studying geochemistry of sediment-water interface, Ambio, 1: 71–72.
Hartmann, M., and Müller, P., 1974, Geochemische Untersuchungen an Sedimenten und Porenwassen, Marine Technology, 5: 201–202.
Hartmann, M., Müller, P., Suess, E., and van der Weijden, C. H., 1973a, Oxidation of organic matter in recent marine sediments, “Meteor” Forschungs-Ergebnisse, C, 12: 74–86.
Hartmann, M., Kögler, F. C., Müller, P., and Suess, E., 1973b, Preliminary results of geochemical and soil-mechanical investigations on Pacific Ocean sediments, in: International Symposium on the origin and distribution of manganese nodules in the Pacific and prospects for exploitation, Honolulu, July 23/25, 1973.
Hartmann, M., Kögler, F. C., Müller, P., and Suess, E., 1974, Untersuchungen zur Genese von Manganknollen (unpublished Annual Report to the Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie, Bonn).
Hartmann, M., Müller, P., Suess, E., and van der Weijden, C. H., 1976, Chemistry of late quaternary sediments and their interstitial waters from the NW African continental margin, “Meteor” Forschungs-Ergebnisse, C., 24 (in press).
Hurd, D. C, 1972, Factors affecting solution rate of biogenic opal in sea water, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 15: 411–417.
Hurd, D. C., 1973, Interaction of biogenic opal, sediment and sea water in the central equatorial Pacific, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 37: 2257–2282.
Kögler, F. C, 1974, Sediment-physikalische Eigenschaften von drei Tiefseekernen des zentralen Pazifischen Ozeans, Marine Technology, 5: 199–201.
Kroopnick, P., 1974, The dissolved O2-CO2-13C system in the eastern equatorial Pacific, Deep Sea Research, 21: 211–227.
Lerman, A., 1976, Migrational processes and chemical reactions in interstitial waters, in: The Sea, (E. D. Goldberg et al., eds.), Vol. 6, Wiley and Sons, New York (in press).
Mangini, A., 1975, Thorium- und Uran-Isotopenanalysen an Tiefseesedimenten, Institut für Umweltphysik der Universität, Heidelberg (unpublished).
Müller, P., 1975, Diagenese von stickstoffhaltigen organischen und anorganischen Verbindgungen in Sedimenten des westafrikanischen Kontinentalrandes und des zentralen Pazifik, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Kiel.
Nehring, D., 1974, Untersuchungen zum Problem der Denitrifikation und Stickstoffentbindung in Tiefenwasser der Ostsee, Beiträge zur Meereskunde, 33: 135–139.
Redfield, A. C, Ketchum, B. H., and Richards, F. A., 1963, The influence of organisms on the composition of seawater, in: The Sea, (M. N. Hill, ed.), pp. 26–77.
Richards, F. A., 1965, Dissolved gases other than carbon dioxide, in: Chemical Oceanography, 1: (J. P. Riley and G. Skirrow, eds.), Academic Press, pp. 197–225.
Richards, F. A., and Redfield, A. C., 1954, A correlation between the oxygen content of seawater and the organic content of marine sediments, Deep Sea Research, 1: 279–281.
Riley, G. A., 1951, Oxygen, phosphate and nitrate in the Atlantic Ocean, Bulletin of Bingham Oceanographic Collection, 13: 1–126.
Riley, G. A., 1956, Oceanography of Long Island Sound 1952–1954. IX. Production and utilization of organic matter, Bulletin of Bingham Oceanographic Collection, 15: 325–344.
Rittenberg, S. C., Emery, K. O., and Orr, W. L., 1955, Regeneration of nutrients in sediments of marine basins, Deep Sea Research, 3: 23–45.
Schrader, H. J., 1971, Fecal pellets: Role in sedimentation of pelagic diatoms, Science 1974: 55–57.
Sen Gupta, R., 1973, Nitrogen and phosphorus budgets in the Baltic Sea, Marine Chemistry, 1: 267–280.
Stöber, W., 1967, Formation of silicic acid in aqueous suspensions of different silica modification, in: Equilibrium Concepts in Natural Water Systems (R. F. Gould, ed.), American Chemical Society (Washington) Publication 67, pp. 161–182.
Stumm, W., and Morgan, J. J., 1970, Aquatic Chemistry, Wiley Interscience, New York, pp. 514–563.
Tessenow, U., 1973, Lösungs-, Diffusions- und Sorptionsprozesse in der Oberschicht von Seesedimenten. II. Rezente Akkumulation von Eisen (II) phosphat (Vivianit) im Sediment eines meromiktischen Moorsees (Ursee, Hochschwarswald) durch postsedimentäre Verlagerung, Archiv für Hydrobiologie/Beihefte, 42 (2): 143–189.
Thompson, T. G., Thomas, B. D., and Barnes, C. A., 1934, Distribution of dissolved oxygen in the North Pacific Ocean, in: James Jonston Memorial Volume, University Press, Liverpool, pp. 203–234.
Wattenberg, H., 1938, Die Verteilung des Sauerstoffs und des Phosphats im Atlantischen Ozean, Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Atlantischen Expendition “Meteor” 1925–27, 9 (1) und (2): 1–179.
Weichart, G., 1974, Meereschemische Untersuchungen in nordwestafrikanischen Auftriebsgebiet 1968, “Meteor” Forschungs-Ergebnisse, A., 14: 33–70.
Wyrtki, K., 1971, Oceanographic Atlas of the International Indian Ocean Expedition, National Science Foundation Publication, Washington, D.C., pp. 1–531.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1976 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Suess, E. (1976). Nutrients Near the Depositional Interface. In: McCave, I.N. (eds) The Benthic Boundary Layer. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-8747-7_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-8747-7_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-8749-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-8747-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive