NO. I FORAMINIFERA IN LONG ISLAND SOUND BUZAS 3 



40 percent of saturation in the western end and 50 percent of satura- 

 tion in the central portion. 



Phosphate. — Maximum concentrations of phosphate occur in 

 autumn and winter, whereas minimum concentrations are found in 

 summer. The phosphate level is higher in the western end especially 

 during the autumn and winter. Phosphate appears not to be an 

 important limiting factor for phytoplankton growth in the central 

 basin. 



Nitrate. — Maximum concentrations of nitrate occur in autumn and 

 early winter. Concentrations are greater in the western area during 

 the maximum. During the remainder of the year, however, there 

 is little nitrate anywhere in the column. Enrichment experiments have 

 shown that nitrogen is probably an important limiting factor for 

 phytoplankton growth in the central basin. 



Phytoplankton. — A midwinter flowering with a peak between Jan- 

 uary and March occurred each year in which L.I.S. was studied. 

 This is normally followed by several irregular summer flowerings of 

 moderate size. In the autumns of 1954 and 1955 there were 

 marked flowerings, whereas none occurred in 1952 and 1953. Illu- 

 mination, stability of the water column, and nutrient supply were 

 suggested to explain these differences. The amount of chlorophyll 

 in the water column increased progressively from east to west. 



Zooplankton. — The seasonal cycle for the zooplankton showed 

 maxima in late spring and late summer, with a minimum occurring in 

 midwinter. There appeared to be no large regional differences in 

 zooplankton concentrations even though the western end could 

 potentially support a larger crop. 



Particulate matter. — Measurements of the total particulate matter, 

 organic matter, and chlorophyll in surface water at a station in central 

 L.I.S. indicated that although there was a 20-fold variation in chloro- 

 phyll during the year, the organic matter varied within narrow limits. 

 This suggests that at times much of the organic matter occurs as 

 detritus or as organisms that contain very little chlorophyll. About 

 two-thirds of the total particulate matter is composed of nonliving 

 material. 



SEDIMENTS 



McCrone and others (1961) studied the sediment in selected 

 samples from 23 traverses in L.I.S. They reported silt as the most 

 common sediment and indicated a general increase in grain size 

 toward near-shore sands. The pH of the silts in the tops of 17 cores 



