The Interference of Tripton on CO2 Dark Fixation in a Temperate Inpoundment with High Input of Suspended Solids
✍ Scribed by Mühlhauser, H. A. ;Montecino, S. V.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1990
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 492 KB
- Volume
- 18
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0323-4320
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Dark ^14^CO~2~ fixation in primary productivity measurements had been studied extensively. Dark fixation is partly biological, partly non‐biological. Despite several attempts to give an explanation, its variability remains a problem. The bulk research on this matter was done on the biological factors of dark fixation, but abiotic arguments were little considered. The abiotic fraction of ^14^CO~2~ fixation, associated with large suspended solids inputs to the temperate impoundment Rapel (Chile), was studied. Seston samples collected from the euphotic zone were analyzed for organic‐inorganic fractions, total‐N and total‐P. Determinations of NO~3~‐N, PO~4~‐P, dissolved total‐N and dissolved total‐P, and chlorophyll a were related to seston samples. Primary productivity was measured by the ^14^C method in the euphotic zone. Results suggest that in reservoirs with large tripton contents a competition for plant nutrients including C (as HCO~3~^−^) exists between tripton and phytoplankton. Dark fixation experiments, during large inputs of suspended solids, showed significant amounts of ^14^C adsorbed to the tripton. Thus, insufficient acid stripping of adsorbed ^14^C in the experiments hampers the correct assessment of ^4^CO~2~ dark fixation.