OCEA 1002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Septic Tank, Denitrifying Bacteria, Oyster Farming

• School: Dalhousie University
• Department: Oceanography
• Course: OCEA 1002
• Professor: Carolyn Buchwald

Document Summary

An element that occurs in nutrients that we need to live. Nitrogen is the base of the food chain. Nutrients: n, p. si, trace metals -> phytoplankton (plants of the ocean) -> fish -> humans. Nitrogen gas, nitrous oxide greenhouse gas, nitric oxide. Cool chemistry going from one compound to another in a cycle. N2 gas, nitrogen fixation -> fixed nitrogen (nutrient organic n) C(cid:455)a(cid:374)o(cid:271)a(cid:272)teria are (cid:448)er(cid:455) i(cid:373)porta(cid:374)t (cid:271)e(cid:272)ause the(cid:455)"re a(cid:271)le to fi(cid:454) (cid:374)itroge(cid:374) Denitrifying bacteria breathe in n2 instead of o2. Humans have had a larger impact on the nitrogen cycle than they have on co2 cycle. Refers to excess nutrients added to the ocean. When you add in nitrogen, you get a large algae bloom at the top, they die and fall to the bottom, all organisms die. Over fertilization of lawns and crops crops by the coast. From septic tank, pee contaminated water seeps into the leeching field, down to the groundwater and out to the estuary.