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Abstract:
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The importance of phosphorus for organic production in the sea appears to have been
recognized first by Brandt (1899) and the earlier determinations of this element in the
coastal seas of northern Europe (Brandt, 1920; Raben, 1920; Mathews, 1917) suggested
a correlation between seasonal variation of phosphate and growth of phytoplankton.
These earlier determinations were later shown to be too high (Atkins, 1926, a) and did
not indicate the complete exhaustion of phosphate from the water, so it was not until
several years later that Atkins (1923), employing the rapid and more accurate colorimetric
ceruleo-molybdate method of Deniges, illustrated the complete dependence of
algal growth on phosphate (in the English Channel) and thus established the foundation
for modern studies of marine chemical fertility.
The beginning of our knowledge of phosphate content of the open ocean may, as far
as is known to me, also be attributed to Atkins (1926, a) and even though these early
results were frequently somewhat vitiated by storing of the samples before analyses,
they represented the order of magnitude of phosphate concentration in the sea. Within
recent years phosphate determination has become a component part of the program of
most deep sea investigations and much general information on its distribution and variation
in the open ocean has been brought to light. |