Nitrate and ammonium uptake in Antarctic waters1

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Nitrate and ammonium uptake rates were measured by the 15N 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 NO3− and NH4+ 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 NH4+ was positively correlated with increasing mean ambient NH4+ concentration and depth in the water column.