Nitrogen and Phytoplankton

In the model menu, open Components (click on the "Components" heading in the left frame) to see the components selected. Nitrogen and Phytoplankton#1 are selected permanently. De-select all other default components and click "Run Model"

Phytoplankton grow in the surface where the light is, using up nutrients (in the model we track nitrogen). The phytoplankton growth causes nitrogen concentrations to decrease from 5 to 0 μM. Phytoplankton stop growing (at greater than 300 mg carbon/m3) because they have used up all the nitrogen. Phytoplankton die and turn back into nitrogen based on their mortality rate (you can see this if you set the "Run time", under the Model Settings tab, to 240 days). Light in the surface goes up and down throughout the day with the sun. The amount of sunlight also changes with the seasons. Light attenuates (diminishes) in the water column, so the deeper you go, the less light there is.

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