Dynamics of Aggregates and Sinking Carbon Fluxes in a Turbulent Ocean
The sinking of particulate matter from the upper ocean dominates the export and sequestration of organic carbon by the biological pump, a critical component of the Earth's carbon cycle. Controls on carbon export are thought to be driven by ecological processes that produce and repackage sinking...
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2024
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crescholarship:10.31223/x58709 2024-05-19T07:45:49+00:00 Dynamics of Aggregates and Sinking Carbon Fluxes in a Turbulent Ocean Siegel, David Burd, Adrian Estapa, Margaret Fields, Erik Johnson, Leah Romanelli, Elisa Brzezinski, Mark Buesseler, Ken Clevenger, Samantha Cetinic, Ivona Drago, Laetitia Durkin, Colleen Kiko, Rainer Kramer, Sasha Maas, Amy Omand, Melissa Passow, Uta Steinberg, Deborah 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.31223/x58709 unknown California Digital Library (CDL) posted-content 2024 crescholarship https://doi.org/10.31223/x58709 2024-05-02T10:13:02Z The sinking of particulate matter from the upper ocean dominates the export and sequestration of organic carbon by the biological pump, a critical component of the Earth's carbon cycle. Controls on carbon export are thought to be driven by ecological processes that produce and repackage sinking biogenic particles. Here, we present observations during the demise of the Northeast Atlantic Ocean spring bloom illustrating the importance of storm-induced turbulence on the dynamics of sinking particles. A sequence of four large storms caused upper layer mean turbulence levels to vary by more than three orders of magnitude. Large particle (>0.1 to 10 mm) abundance and size changed accordingly: increasing via shear coagulation when turbulence was moderate and decreasing rapidly when turbulence was intense due to shear disaggregation. Particle export was also tied to storm forcing as large particles were mixed to depth during mixed layer deepening. After the mixed layer shoaled, these particles, now isolated from intense surface mixing, grew larger and subsequently sank. This sequence of events matched the timing of sinking particle flux observations. Particle export was influenced by increases in aggregate abundance and porosity, which appeared to be enhanced by the repeated creation and destruction of aggregates. Last, particle transit efficiency through the mesopelagic zone was reduced by presumably biotic processes that created small particles (<0.5 mm) from larger ones. Our results demonstrate that ocean turbulence significantly impacts the nature and dynamics of sinking particles, strongly influencing particle export and the efficiency of the biological pump. Other/Unknown Material Northeast Atlantic eScholarship Repository (University of California) |
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The sinking of particulate matter from the upper ocean dominates the export and sequestration of organic carbon by the biological pump, a critical component of the Earth's carbon cycle. Controls on carbon export are thought to be driven by ecological processes that produce and repackage sinking biogenic particles. Here, we present observations during the demise of the Northeast Atlantic Ocean spring bloom illustrating the importance of storm-induced turbulence on the dynamics of sinking particles. A sequence of four large storms caused upper layer mean turbulence levels to vary by more than three orders of magnitude. Large particle (>0.1 to 10 mm) abundance and size changed accordingly: increasing via shear coagulation when turbulence was moderate and decreasing rapidly when turbulence was intense due to shear disaggregation. Particle export was also tied to storm forcing as large particles were mixed to depth during mixed layer deepening. After the mixed layer shoaled, these particles, now isolated from intense surface mixing, grew larger and subsequently sank. This sequence of events matched the timing of sinking particle flux observations. Particle export was influenced by increases in aggregate abundance and porosity, which appeared to be enhanced by the repeated creation and destruction of aggregates. Last, particle transit efficiency through the mesopelagic zone was reduced by presumably biotic processes that created small particles (<0.5 mm) from larger ones. Our results demonstrate that ocean turbulence significantly impacts the nature and dynamics of sinking particles, strongly influencing particle export and the efficiency of the biological pump. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Siegel, David Burd, Adrian Estapa, Margaret Fields, Erik Johnson, Leah Romanelli, Elisa Brzezinski, Mark Buesseler, Ken Clevenger, Samantha Cetinic, Ivona Drago, Laetitia Durkin, Colleen Kiko, Rainer Kramer, Sasha Maas, Amy Omand, Melissa Passow, Uta Steinberg, Deborah |
spellingShingle |
Siegel, David Burd, Adrian Estapa, Margaret Fields, Erik Johnson, Leah Romanelli, Elisa Brzezinski, Mark Buesseler, Ken Clevenger, Samantha Cetinic, Ivona Drago, Laetitia Durkin, Colleen Kiko, Rainer Kramer, Sasha Maas, Amy Omand, Melissa Passow, Uta Steinberg, Deborah Dynamics of Aggregates and Sinking Carbon Fluxes in a Turbulent Ocean |
author_facet |
Siegel, David Burd, Adrian Estapa, Margaret Fields, Erik Johnson, Leah Romanelli, Elisa Brzezinski, Mark Buesseler, Ken Clevenger, Samantha Cetinic, Ivona Drago, Laetitia Durkin, Colleen Kiko, Rainer Kramer, Sasha Maas, Amy Omand, Melissa Passow, Uta Steinberg, Deborah |
author_sort |
Siegel, David |
title |
Dynamics of Aggregates and Sinking Carbon Fluxes in a Turbulent Ocean |
title_short |
Dynamics of Aggregates and Sinking Carbon Fluxes in a Turbulent Ocean |
title_full |
Dynamics of Aggregates and Sinking Carbon Fluxes in a Turbulent Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Dynamics of Aggregates and Sinking Carbon Fluxes in a Turbulent Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dynamics of Aggregates and Sinking Carbon Fluxes in a Turbulent Ocean |
title_sort |
dynamics of aggregates and sinking carbon fluxes in a turbulent ocean |
publisher |
California Digital Library (CDL) |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.31223/x58709 |
genre |
Northeast Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northeast Atlantic |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.31223/x58709 |
_version_ |
1799485940097351680 |