SECT. 1] THE INFLUENCE OF ORGANISMS ON THE COMPOSITION OF SEA -WATER 



31 



synthesized near the surface, these differences should not only reflect the 

 quantities of organic matter which have decomposed but also the proportions 

 of the elements present in the plankton from which it has been derived. The 

 latter expectation is confirmed by the data presented in Figs. 2 and 3, in which 



1.0 



p 



2.0 



50 100 



? utilized 



150 



Fig. 2. A. Correlation between nitrate nitrogen and phosphate phosphorus in waters of 

 western Atlantic. B. Correlation between nitrate nitrogen and apparent oxygen 

 utilization in same samples. Open circles represent samples from above 1000 m. 



Concentrations in mg atoms/m 3 . Phosphorus corrected for salt error. (After Red- 

 field, 1934.) 



• I 



190 



Fig. 3. Correlation between nitrate nitrogen and carbonate carbon in waters of western 

 Atlantic. Concentrations in mg atoms/m 3 . (After Redfield, 1934.) 



