Primary production spring blooms

Dominant microphytoplankton. Comprises most of the primary production and biomass in spring blooms at temperate and polar regions. They require more Fe and P than most of the smaller nano-and pico-phytoplankton... 

Weichart, G., 1980. Chemical changes and primary production in the Fladen Ground area (North Sea) during the first phase of a spring phytoplankton bloom. "Meteor" Forschungsergebnisse, Reihe A., n° 22 79-86. 

Gieskes WWC, Kraay GW (1977b) Primary production and consumption of organic matter in the southern North Sea during the spring bloom of 1975. Neth J Sea Res 11 146-167... 

These seasonal cycles of productivity are shown schematically in Fig. 1, along with a map of current estimates of primary production rates. In the north Pacific zooplankton population growth supresses the spring bloom. 

In higher latitudes (40—60°) in winter, insolution is much lower, the water is often more turbid and turbulence carries the algae to depths 5- 10 times deeper than the euphotic zone. As a result primary production is almost completely arrested. When in spring stratification develops, a plankton bloom occurs, exhausting the nutrients in the euphotic zone within a few weeks this is followed by a period with a much lower primary productivity. When in autumn new mixing periods alternate with stable periods, a smaller secondary bloom occurs. In winter there is low primary production due to a much lower level of insolation. 

Van Iwaarden, A.J.W., 1979. Micro-autoradiographical Determination of the Primary Productivity of Different Phytoplankton Species During the Spring Bloom (1979) of the Lake Grevelingen. Delta Institute, Yerseke, Stud. Rep. D9-1979, 85 pp. 

Our most recent work on fatty acids in Conception Bay [117] has provided additional details to the overall observations made for bulk carbon and individual hydrocarbons discussed above. We combined detailed molecular characterization with carbon isotopic measurements to describe both the temporal and depth variations of primary production during the spring bloom. The isotopic compositions of the fatty acids are summarized in Fig. 9. Bulk spring bloom particulate organic matter in Conception Bay has a 6 C value between -24%o and -26%o [116]. Since lipids are normally expected to be depleted relative to... 

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