title: Solutions to a degenerate system of parabolic equations from marine biology.
abstract: A system of parabolic and ordinary differential equations ut = a2 uxx + F(u,v,w), vt = a2 vxx + G(u,v,w), wx = -k(u) w is studied which has been proposed by Radach and Maier-Reimer for the dynamics of phytoplankton and nutrient in dependence of light intensity. It is shown that there is a unique solution to this system satisfying given initial and boundary conditions. The solution depends continuously on the data. For specific nonlinearities F, G, and k bounds for the solutions are given.
mesh_terms: D005523:Food Supply; D008027:Light; D008954:Models, Biological; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000254:growth & development*; D010933:Plankton / Q000254:growth & development*; D011156:Population Density