Composition of photosynthetic gas bubbles from submerged macrophytes

Dissolved oxygen plays a central role for all organisms dwelling in water. However, the flux of oxygen by ebullition has not received much attention in environmental science. For a better quantitative understanding of the oxygen flux due to ebullition, we conducted a series of laboratory experiments, where we forced macrophytes to produce photosynthetic gas bubbles. Raising the CO2 concentration in the water greatly increased bubble formation. Depth was varied to compare the results with theoretically predicted composition of photosynthetic bubbles forming at minimum required gas pressure. Oxygen concentrations lay between this theoretical line as lower boundary (ca. 21% O2 at 0.3 m depth and 45% of O2 at 4.5 m) and 45% of oxygen as the purely empirical upper limit for all depths. As a consequence, no bubble formation was observed at depths below 4.5 m.