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Thermodynamics of the Pelagic Ecosystem: Elementary Closure Conditions for Biological Production in the Open Ocean

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Flows of Energy and Materials in Marine Ecosystems

Part of the book series: NATO Conference Series ((MARS,volume 13))

Abstract

In the pelagic zone of the ocean, the primordial ecological event is the conversion by phytoplankton of radiant energy from the sun into biochemical energy. The rate at which this process proceeds is called the primary production of the ocean. In spite of its fundamental importance and its profound significance for the tropho-dynamics of the marine ecosystem, the absolute magnitude of primary production in the ocean is still uncertain to within a factor of ten (Eppley, 1980). More than 50 years of research effort have gone into its measurement, including 30 years with a high precision isotopic tracer technique: but instead of converging on some generally accepted figures, the estimates continue to diverge (Steemann Nielsen, 1954; Platt and Subba Rao, 1975; Eppley and Peterson, 1979; Peterson, 1980). It has become conventional, if not ritualistic, for any inconsistencies in independent estimates to be laid at the door of the 14C method (Williams, 1981). The technique with the highest potential precision is therefore in danger of losing (has lost?) credibility on the grounds of accuracy. If primary production estimates up to two orders of magnitude higher than the 14C figures can be given serious consideration in the literature (Sheldon and Sutcliffe, 1978; Gieskes et al., 1979; Johnson et al., 1981; Shulenberger and Reid, 1981) why not three orders or four orders higher?

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Ecology Laboratory, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, B2Y 4A2, Canada

    Trevor Platt, Marlon Lewis & Richard Geider

  2. Dept. of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Marlon Lewis

  3. Dept. of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Richard Geider

Authors
  1. Trevor Platt
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  2. Marlon Lewis
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  3. Richard Geider
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Godalming, Surrey, UK

    M. J. R. Fasham

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© 1984 Plenum Press, New York

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Platt, T., Lewis, M., Geider, R. (1984). Thermodynamics of the Pelagic Ecosystem: Elementary Closure Conditions for Biological Production in the Open Ocean. In: Fasham, M.J.R. (eds) Flows of Energy and Materials in Marine Ecosystems. NATO Conference Series, vol 13. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0387-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0387-0_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-0389-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-0387-0

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