On the Thermal Stratification of Sea Water and its Importance for the Algal Plankton

Extract

In a previous paper (1924) the writer considered the factors which bring about the mixing of surface water, warmed by the sun, with the cooler water below. Observations were cited to show that in the English Channel, between May and September, a warm surface layer may exist, which differs from the deeper water in being more alkaline and poorer in phosphates; both these differences are due to the activity of the phyto-plankton. The reduction in phosphate proceeds in the upper well-illuminated layer till none is left. No further increase in phytoplankton is then possible till phosphate is set free by decomposition or supplied by mixing with the deeper water. The phenomena of thermal stratification are consequently of great importance in the study of the phyto-plankton.