Certain Aspects of Production and Standing Stock of Particulate Matter in the Surface Waters of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Samples collected during January and October 1968 from 44° to 19°N in the western North Atlantic were analysed for particulate organic carbon, ATP, DNA, chlorophyll a, and total particulate volume between 1 and 40 μ diameter. Although the ratio of chlorophyll to ATP decreased from north to south, the ratio of particulate carbon to ATP did not show any systematic trend. A good correlation was found between ATP and DNA even though the DNA concentration was too great to be entirely representative of living material. Growth or production of particulate material as measured by the Coulter Counter method was higher than that measured by C-14 method. A trend was noted towards higher specific growth rate with smaller standing crop in southern waters.