Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 May 2009
The results of a survey of the distribution of phosphates in the south-western area in April 1938 show that there were three regions exceptionally rich in phosphate. These regions appeared to be associated respectively with the outflow of the Bristol Channel, with the flow of more oceanic water across the entrance of the English Channel, and with upwelling of deeper water at the edge of the Continental Shelf.
The surface water was poorer in phosphate than the deeper water, and regions poorer in phosphate were in some cases associated with a crop of phytoplankton.