Distributions of pigments in reef sediments, contribution of phytoplankton to organic matter budget in coral reef

Mohammed Rasheed, Tariq Al-Najjar, Said Damhoureyeh

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DOI: 10.4236/ns.2011.35046                

Abstract

The temporal distributions of pigment on bio-genic calcareous and terrigenic reef sediments, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, chlorophyll c, fuco- xanthin, and porphine concentrations were mea- sured monthly in two sediment columns (0 - 15 cm) for one year. Pigment concentrations in-creased significantly during winter (Novem-ber-April) in both sediment types particularly in the upper layers of the sediments. Phytoplankton contributions to organic matter were found to be 8 ± 3 and 6 ± 2% in calcareous and terrigenous sediments respectively. The accumulation and the successive degradation of phytoplankton detritus to inorganic nutrients in calcareous sand may partly sustain the productivity of the coral reef communities which live in nutrient-poor environments.

Keywords

Pigment; Calcareous Sediments; Terrigenous Sediments

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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