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Total labile carbon in the euphotic zone of the Baltic Sea as measured by BOD

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Abstract

Total labile organic carbon was estimated in the euphotic zone of the Baltic Sea by a method based on the determination of the biological oxygen demand (BOD); the method is extremely simple, requires little sample water, and is quite precise (±4.5 μmol O2/l or ±40.4 μgClab/l). The amount found was 1,150 μgClab/l, or about 29% of the total organic carbon. At 1 m, a relationship between biological activity, as measured by chlorophyll content, and the amount of labile carbon was found: ln Clab (μg/l)=ln 6.87 (μg/l) +0.272 ln chlorophyll (μg/l), with a correlation coefficient of 0.86, which is significantly greater than zero at the 0.001 level.

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  1. Bermuda Biological Station for Research, St. George's West, Bermuda

    A. Zsolnay

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  1. A. Zsolnay
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Communicated by O. Kinne, Hamburg

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Zsolnay, A. Total labile carbon in the euphotic zone of the Baltic Sea as measured by BOD. Mar. Biol. 29, 125–128 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00388984

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00388984

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