Abstract
In a study of silica dissolution from diatoms, the rate coefficient (K) h-1 of raw diatom cells was estimated as 4 to 5 times smaller than that of the acid-digested siliceous skeletons. The dissolution rate coefficient at early stage (K1) can be predicted as a function of temperature (T°C): in K1=α+βT, where α is the frequency factor depending on the properties of diatom species, ranging from -7.35 to-`0.38, and the temperature coefficient β is 0.0833 for all species. Activation energies were calculated to be 1.37 to 1.38 Kcal mol-1. This equation suggests that the rate coefficient K1 increases by a factor of 2.27 for each 10 C° rise in temperature. This equation will also be applied to a new approach for the fate and behavior of biogenous silica settling through a water column by introducing the term temperature into a model.
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Communicated by M. Anraku, Hiroshima
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Kamatani, A. Dissolution rates of silica from diatoms decomposing at various temperatures. Marine Biology 68, 91–96 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393146
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393146