EAS 1540 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Biogeochemistry, Cellular Respiration, Chlorophyll
15 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Another major goal of biological oceanography is to understand how life in the ocean affects global elemental cycles --> biogeochemistry. Global carbon cycle is a big topic because it closely related to our global warming problem. Photosynthesis consumes co2 gas to form the particulate carbon of algae. Respiration by all organisms produces carbon dioxide gas. The difference between photosynthesis and respiration by all of the organism is what sinks to the ocean floor. Plankton: small organisms that drift with the ocean currents. Phytoplankton: small cells that contain chlorophyll and drift with ocean currents. Involves synthesis of organic compounds (uptake of plant nutrients) to construct complex molecules to form cellular components. The magnitude of primary production depends on sunlight and essential plant nutrients. Net primary production = difference between co2 consumed by photosynthesis and co2 produced by respiration. Also net gain or net loss of carbon within the cell.
