On the hydrogen and oxygen content of marine phytoplankton

The traditionally used “Redfield” formula for the average composition of the organic tissue of marine phytoplankton, (CH2O)106(NH3)16(H3PO4), is found to be in disagreement with observations regarding its oxygen and hydrogen content. Based on considerations of metabolite composition and various observations, a new formula is proposed, C106H175O42N16P, which should be a better approximation to mean algal elemental composition. Estimates suggest that Redfieldʹs algal Corg/N/P ratio of 106/16/1 is consistent with −O2P oxidation ratios between 140 and 160, rather than the traditional value of 138.