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Seasonal Fluctuations and Distribution of Nitrite in a Tropical West African Estuary

Abstract

VERY little is known about the distribution and seasonal fluctuations of inorganic nitrogen in West African estuaries. I have given1 some preliminary figures based on a series of spot analyses and found that in the Sierra Leone River estuary there are both horizontal and vertical gradients in the concentrations of nitrite, nitrate and ammonia, with the higher values in the upstream direction and with increasing depth. The concentration of nitrite was found to vary from 8 to 4 mgm. nitrogen/m.3, nitrate from 141 to 74 mgm. nitrogen/m.3 and ammonia from 22 to 10 mgm. nitrogen/m.3—samples taken over a period of only 3 months were, however, examined.

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WATTS, J. Seasonal Fluctuations and Distribution of Nitrite in a Tropical West African Estuary. Nature 191, 929 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/191929a0

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