Primary productivity and plankton abundance along the shelf and oceanic waters off southeast coast of India during August, 1987

Selvaraj, G S D and Paul Pandian, A L and Purushothaman, A (1990) Primary productivity and plankton abundance along the shelf and oceanic waters off southeast coast of India during August, 1987. In: Proceedings of the first workshop on scientific results of FORV Sagar Sampada, 5-7 June 1989, Kochi.

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Abstract

The study is based on the hydro biological data collected on board FORV Sagar Sampada from the shelf and oceanic waters of Bay of Bengal between Lat. 10˚ - 14˚ N and Long. 80˚ - 83˚ E in August, 1987. Mean values of chlorophyll 'a', 'b', 'c' and plant carotenoid pigments in surface water were estimated as 2.180, 0.184, 1.616 and 1.651 mg/m3 in the shelf and 0.333, 0.088,0.406 and 0.297 mg/m3 for the oceanic region respectively while primary productivity experiments (by oxygen method) showed mean values of 146 and 92 mg C/m3/day respectively in the upper euphotic zone. Phytoplankton blooms and zooplankton swarms observed in the shallow shelf region between 10°30' and 11°31YN and along the continental shelf edge and adjacent oceanic waters between 12'30' and 13"3(YN are reported. Wet volume of plankton biomass (soon after preservation ) was found to vary from 0.88-10.6 cc/m3 of water in the shelf and 0.18-1.7 cc/m3in the oceanic region with their mean volume estimated as 3.14 and 0.48 cc/m3 in the respective regions. The concentration of total suspended matter (dry weight) in the surface layer varied from 1.90 -7.91 mg/l. Contribution of plankton biomass to total suspended matter, their distribution pattern and factors relating to their abundance are discussed.

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