148 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



NITRITE-NITROGEN 



Distribution of nitrite-nitrogen in the Gulf of 

 Mexico is almost unknown except for a single 

 station in the Yucatan Channel and a few analyses 

 of surface water along the Florida west coast made 

 in 1946-47 by Williams (1947) and Gunter, 

 Williams, Davis, and Smith (1948), (table 4). 



Table 4. — Nitrite-nitrogen along Gulf coast of 

 Florida, 1946-4? 

 [Observations by Williams, Ounter, Davis, and Smith] 



Vertical distribution of nitrite at Atlantis 

 station 1606 in the middle of the Yucatdn Channel 

 May 4, 1933, depth 1,911 m., reported in the 

 Bulletin Hydrographique (1936, p. 103) and by 

 Rakestraw (1936, p. 149, table 9)* is summarized 

 in table 5. 



Table 5. — Nitrite-nitrogen in the Yucatdn Channel 



HYDROGEN ION CONCENTRATION (pH) 



The hydrogen ion concentration of sea water at 

 the Dry Tortugas from the surface to 35 meters 

 varied between the pH values of 8.1 and 8.28 

 (McClendon, 1916a, 1916b, 1918; IVIayor, 1922). 

 Published data on vertical distribution of pH 

 in deeper waters of the Gulf are limited to those 

 taken at Atlantic station 1606 in the middle of the 

 Yucatan Channel May 4, 1933. They were re- 

 ported in the Bulletin Hydrographique (1936, 



• The graph of this nitrite distribution (Rakestraw, 1936, p. 160, flp. II) docs 

 not correspond to the figures in the tables. 



p. 103), corrected for depth to represent condi- 

 tions in situ, and diagrammed by Rakestraw and 

 Smith (1937, figs. 7, 18-20). The pH increased 

 slightly from 8.14 at the surface to 8.17 at 24 

 meters, then decreased to a minimum of about 7.9 

 at 736 meters, then increased to about 8.03 at 

 1,537 meters. 



Measurements of the pH of shallow waters of 

 Galveston Bay were made by Wise, Winston, and 

 CuUi (1945). Detailed studies of pH distribution 

 at 26 stations in the coastal bays between New 

 Orleans and Biloxi were reported by Gunter (1950) ; 

 the pH values ranged from 6.66 in Pearl River 

 entering Lake Borgne, to 8.35 in American Bay, 

 off Breton Sound. 



Determinations of pH on the sea water col- 

 lected during and after the red tide (Galtsoff, 

 1948, pp. 23-24; Gunter, Williams, Davis, and 

 Smith, 1948, p. 319, table 9) indicated no abnormal 

 hydrogen ion concentrations. 



ALKALINITY AND CARBON DIOXIDE 



The alkalinity or buffer capacity and con- 

 centrations of carbonic acid (including the free 

 carbon dioxide), bicarbonate, and carbonate have 

 been studied in Gulf of Mexico water in the Dry 

 Tortugas by Dole (1914), McClendon (1918), 

 Mayor (1922), Wells (1922), and Lipman (1929), 

 and in the Yucatin Channel by Mitchell and 

 Rakestraw (1933), and Rakestraw and Smith 

 (1937, p. 2, table 1; p. 9, fig. 7). 



COPPER 



According to Riley (1937) soluble copper and 

 copper adsorbed on plankton and detritus is 

 distributed horizontally and vertically in all direc- 

 tions from the mouth of the Mississippi River as 

 far as the 1 ,000-f athom line. All samples analyzed 

 by him showed the concentrations of soluble copper 

 from 1 to 25 mg/m ' and that of adsorbed copper 

 from 0.3 to 7.2 mg/m.' The high copper values in 

 the surface samples were generally found in waters 

 of low salinity. At the 1,000-fathom station, 

 soluble copper increased from 5 mg/m ' at the 

 surface to 9, 10, 10, and 12 mg/m ' at 100, 300, 

 600, and 1,800 meters depth, respectively. 



MISCELLANEOUS CHEMICAL CONSTITU- 

 ENTS 



Bromine content of the Gulf of Mexico water has 

 been studied in connection with the commercial 



