FURTHER EXPERIMENTS ON THE DECOMPOSITION AND REGENERATION OF NITROGENOUS ORGANIC MATTER IN SEA WATER

Abstract

Several consecutive cycles of decomposition and regeneration were carried out in the same water. In the first cycle the main stages of decomposition are: dead body[long dash]ammonia[long dash]nitrite[long dash]nitrate. In the 2d cycle there is evidence of intermediate soluble substances between dead body and ammonia. Under anaerobic conditions the initial states of decomposition take place more slowly than under aerobic conditions, and no nitrite or nitrate is developed. Regeneration of N into phytoplankton protoplasm is possible not only in the nitrate stage but also in the ammonia stage and before the nitrate has reached its maximum. The quantitative N balance was better than that reported in previous expts., and possible reasons for the discrepancies still present are discussed.