Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Water is the medium of the oceans, the medium which carries all the substances and elements involved in the marine biogeochemical cycles. Water as found in nature almost always includes dissolved substances, so water has been described as the "universal solvent" for its ability to dissolve so many substances.
For example, sewage treatment plants can be upgraded for biological nutrient removal so that they discharge much less nitrogen and phosphorus to the receiving water body. However, even with good secondary treatment , most final effluents from sewage treatment works contain substantial concentrations of nitrogen as nitrate, nitrite or ammonia.
Nutrient pollution, a form of water pollution, refers to contamination by excessive inputs of nutrients.It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters (lakes, rivers and coastal waters), in which excess nutrients, usually nitrogen or phosphorus, stimulate algal growth. [1]
The most abundant dissolved ions in seawater are sodium, chloride, magnesium, sulfate and calcium. [16] Its osmolarity is about 1000 mOsm/L. [17] Small amounts of other substances are found, including amino acids at concentrations of up to 2 micrograms of nitrogen atoms per liter, [18] which are thought to have played a key role in the origin ...
The nitrogen cycle is an important process in the ocean as well. While the overall cycle is similar, there are different players [40] and modes of transfer for nitrogen in the ocean. Nitrogen enters the water through the precipitation, runoff, or as N 2 from the atmosphere. Nitrogen cannot be utilized by phytoplankton as N
Cyanobacteria can fix nitrogen by accessing atmospheric nitrogen that has been dissolved into water and transforming it into nitrogen accessible to other organisms. [26] This higher amount of nitrogen is then able to sustain large algae blooms in oligotrophic waters. [27]
An example where Henry's law is at play is the depth-dependent dissolution of oxygen and nitrogen in the blood of underwater divers that changes during decompression, going to decompression sickness. An everyday example is carbonated soft drinks, which contain dissolved carbon dioxide.
Deep ocean water contains the largest reservoir of nitrogen available to hydrothermal vents, with around 0.59 mM of dissolved nitrogen gas. [24] [25] Ammonium is the dominant species of dissolved inorganic nitrogen, and can be produced by water mass mixing below hydrothermal vents and discharged in vent fluids. [25]