Precise and Accurate Determination by Infrared Photometry of CO₂ Dynamics in Marine Ecosystems

Authors

Kenneth M. Johnson
Curtis M. Burney
John McN. Sieburth, University of Rhode Island

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

1983

Department

Oceanography

Abstract

Preliminary studies with an ampule analyzing unit and infrared (IR) detector showed that procedures for standardization and determination of total carbon dioxide (ΣCO₂), while often precise, lacked the accuracy required to estimate the net productivity and respiration of aquatic ecosystems during studies in which sampling over diel cycles was used. Scaling down sample and standard volumes to the ~l range and the use of a commercial sodium carbonate standard without dilution before and after replicate sample injections gave accurate results as shown by comparison with indirect (pH-alkalinity) ΣCO₂ determinations with a standard error of ±3 μmoles in the laboratory and ±6 μmoles at sea for 8 to 10 replicates. This was sufficient to detect a diurnal consumption and nocturnal production of CO₂ which were inversely correlated with O₂ variation in a salt marsh, an estuarine mesocosm, and the Caribbean Sea.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Johnson, K. M., Burney, C. M., & Sieburth, J. McN. (1983). Precise and Accurate Determination by Infrared Photometry of CO₂ Dynamics in Marine Ecosystems. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 10, 251-256. Retrieved from https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/10/m010p251.pdf.

Available at: https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/10/m010p251.pdf