It is considered that total contents of nitrogen and phosphorus in sea water in inorganic and organic forms are nearly constant in the entire ocean owing to their longer residence time, and the concentration of inorganic and organic compounds can be expressed as a sum of a constant term (primary concentration) and a variable term (plus or minus). The constancy of the total concentration was proved by the chemical analysis using a dry combustion method with respect to nitrogen in sea water. In the upper layer from the surface to 1,000m, variation in concentration is caused mainly by organic production, while in deeper layer, by decomposition of organic matters. The primary concentration is defined as concentration when biological production and AOU (apParent oxygen utilization) are zero.
Results of calculation using observed values of nitrate ion concentration (
N) and AOU at 54 stations located from 65°S to 17°N along 100°W and 146°W in the Pacific showed that the relation between rates of change of nitrate ion concentration and AOU was 0.043, and the primary concentrations were 20.2μg atoms/
l for nitrate ion and 28.0μg atoms/
l for organic nitrogen. Therefore, the total concentration of nitrogen in sea water was 48.2μg atoms/
l. Using these values nitrate ion concentration was calculated below 1,000m in wide areas of the Pacific. Results agreed well with the observations.
The phosphorus relation between rates of change of phosphate ion (
P) and AOU was 0.0029, and the primary concentrations were 1.58 and 1.90μg atoms/
l for inorganic and organic phosphorus. The phosphate ion concentration was calculated in the deep layer, and the results coincided very well with the observations. It was theoretically made clear that
N/
P ratio in sea water was determined by difference between ratios of primary concentration (12.8) and Δ
N/Δ
P (15).
N/
P ratio near the surface was lower than12.8due to biological production, and higher in the deep up to 14. The results of calculation of
N/
P ratio from the surface to the bottom at different stations showed a good agreement with the observation.
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