Abundance and elemental composition of particulate matter tn the upper layer of northeastern Mediterranean

Suspended particulate (POC: PON, PP) profiles obtained in 1991-1994 indicat e the existence of characteristic subsurface maxima near the base of the eu photic zone in the cyclonic Rhodes gyre and its peripherial waters in the N ortheastern Mediterranean. Interestingly the N:P of the bulk seston nas rea sonable during stratification seasons when the surface water was relatively : poor in phosphate: but the ratio was unexpectedly low (N:P=6-12) in the l ate winter of 1992 when the surface layer of Rhodes gyre was occupied with nutrient rich deep waters.