Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Earth Sciences

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

2003

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Microbial Dynamics And Biogeochemistry In The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, Matthew J. Church Jan 2003

Microbial Dynamics And Biogeochemistry In The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, Matthew J. Church

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The research presented in this dissertation describes the influence of planktonic bacterial growth on upper ocean organic matter dynamics in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG). Examination of the temporal dynamics in dissolved organic matter (DOM) was coupled with investigations that targeted the influence of heterotrophic bacterial production (HBP) on organic matter fluxes in the NPSG. Nine cruises to the Hawaii Ocean Time-series field site Station ALOHA revealed that HBP accounted for a large flux of organic carbon in the upper ocean of the NPSG. HBP was significantly enhanced by sunlight, with photoenhancement of HBP accounting for 3.2 mol C …


Availability Of Humic Nitrogen To Phytoplankton, Jason Holt See Jan 2003

Availability Of Humic Nitrogen To Phytoplankton, Jason Holt See

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The chemical, physical, and biological factors affecting the bioavailability of humic nitrogen (N) to coastal phytoplankton were examined. Historically, humic substances have largely been considered biologically refractory, and humic-N is though to be unavailable biologically without prior oxidation via photochemical cleavage or remineralization by bacteria. This is due in part to the high aromaticity and low N content of humic substances. This dissertation investigates whether these assumptions are valid, and whether humic substances may be a more important source of N to the coastal phytoplankton community than previously believed. The research consisted of four main parts. First, changes in the …