Phosphorus settling rates

Phosphorus settling rates were calculated as the ratio of P fluxes to standing-crop concentrations (Figure 10). Observed rates ranged from <0.1... 

Figure 10. Phosphorus settling rates in 1982, calculated as the sediment-trap-measured depositional flux divided by the total particulate P concentration...

The time-sequence pattern of P deposition to the sediment surface differed markedly from that observed with silicon (25). Biogenic silicon underwent relatively little dissolution in the water column as compared with phosphorus, which resulted in a bell-shaped deposition pattern (Figure 11). Rapid regeneration of P during sedimentation resulted in a slower net settling rate for P than for biogenic silicon. 

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