Marine Phytoplankton and the Distribution of Nitrite in the Sea

Abstract

H igh concentrations of nitrite-nitrogen in natural waters mark locations where important biologically induced changes in combined nitrogen are progressing Nitrate-nitrogen on the other hand is the end product of the nitrogen regeneration cycle and tends to accumulate in deep oceanic waters as the most abundant form of inorganic nitrogen. Generally nitrite and nitrate as well as ammonia are suitable sources of nitrogen for photosynthesis and growth of plankton algae; hence increasing concentrations of these substances in the layer of active plant growth represent an excess of nitrogen regeneration over assimilation.