M. Rasheed et al. / Natural Science 3 (2011) 344-350
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349
and the trapped particulate matter present. Phytoplank-
ton detritus can be also trapped in the sediments. In or-
der to calculate the contribution of phytoplankton detri-
tus in total organic matter deposited in calcareous and
terrigenous sediments, the conservative calculations us-
ing the accumulative rates of chl a and fucaxanthin in
the sediment and the pigment concentration percentage
for the total phytoplankton in the Gulf of Aqaba during
winter season were 28 and 12% respectively [20], how-
ever, we found phytoplankton contributions of 8 ± 3 and
6 ± 2% of organic matter to calcareous and terrigenous
sediments respectively. The accumulation of phyto-
plankton detritus and the subsequent degradation of
these detritus to inorganic nutrients may partly support
the productivity of the coral reef community which lives
in nutrient-poor environments.
5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks are due to Khalid Altrabeen for his help in the lab. We would
like to thank Tariq Al-Salaman and Ali Hammad for helping in the
collection of the samples. This work has been funded by the Marine
Science Station, Aqaba-Jordan.
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