Contents and benthic fluxes of nutrients in sediment pore water of the Southern Ocean

The concentration and profile characters of nutrients in sediment pore water of the South Ocean, sampled during the cruise of CHINARE-18 of the austral summer 2001/02 were determined. The results show that the content of SiO3-Si and NH4-N were much higher than other nutrients. The profile of SiO3-Si was characterized with sharp gradients near the sediment-water interface, profile distribution of silicate show that during the diagenetic reaction of silicate, dissolution was the main part. The organic matter decomposition was occurred under the anaerobic condition. Benthic fluxes of SiO3-Si, NH4-N were from pore water to overlying water, and regeneration of silicate and ammonium were the main part of the nutrient regeneration from the pore water of the study area.