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Nature 391, 224-225 (15 January 1998) | doi:10.1038/34528

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Biological oceanography:  Diatoms and the silicate factor

Victor Smetacek1

Over most of the ocean, the amount of new production (net increase in organic matter) by phytoplankton is regulated by the availability in the surface layer of the plant nutrient nitrate. In the so-called 'high-nitrate, low-chlorophyll' (HNLC) regions, however, phytoplankton biomass remains low throughout the year despite high concentrations of nitrate.

  1. Victor Smetacek is at the Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12 , 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany.
    e-mail: Email: vsmetacek@awi-bremerhaven.de