| Research Abstract |
Products of biological production by phytoplankton (organic matter, calcium carbonate and opal) in the euphotic layer of the oceans are starting materials from material cycling of both major (N, P, Si, Ca, etc.) and minor biophile elements in the oceans. The data on elemental compositions from major to trace elements of these marine biological products have been quite limited. The purposes of this study are : to collect marine phytoplankton samples from the subarctic north Pacific and Bering Sea area with a specially designed non-metal NORPAC net, to develop a simple stepwize leaching method for major component analysis and for fractionation of major and trace elements into each major component phases, to obtain multi-element compositions of marine phytoplanlkton samples and to compare the elemental composition and species composition of phytoplankton samples.
We sampled phytoplankton samples mainly composed of diatom with a size range of 25-335 μm from the subarctic North Pacific and Bering Sea area, developed a simple stepwize leaching method to analyze sea salt, calcium carbonate, organic matter, opal and residual aluminosilicate, determined the fractionation of major and trace elements in to these major components. Species compositions of these phytoplankton samples were identified microscopically. As the results we showed the 12 major and trace element compositions in biogenic phase of these samples and estimated the association of these elements with biogenic phases. The analytical method developed here will become an effective method to clarify the behaviors of these elements associating with biological production in marine environments.
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