Publication Date:
2022-08-24
Description:
In samples from the Indian and the Atlantic Ocean the size distribution of detritus particles was estimated by collecting the particles on membrane filters, drying, photographing and subsequent counting them by means of a Zeiss particle size analyzer. Parallel countings were made after the settling down of the particles at the bottom of sedimentation chambers and photographing them in an inverted plankton microscope. The size distribution of detritus particles is given in terms of concentration of detritus, either as number of particlcs per litre, or volume of detritus per litre. As was already observed by BRUN-COTTAN & IVANOFF (1971), in the mean of a series of different samples, the size distribution of detritus particles, in terms of concentration by number follows a decreasing logarithmic function; whereas the same, in terms of concentration by volume probably follows an increasing logarithmic function. In terms of linear presentation this would be a hyperbola and a parabola, respectively. By the plankton microscope method much more particles were obtained than by the membrane filter method. By the latter only solid particles were counted, whereas soft particles, that in nature are bloated by their inner water, disappear. Samples of different origin differ by the absolute number of particles and the gradient of the regression. Thus, the particle size analysis may serve as a means for characterization of water bodies.
Type:
Article
,
PeerReviewed
Format:
text
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