STUDIES ON PIGMENTED MICROORGANISMS FROM APHOTIC MARINE ENVIRONMENTS. II. NORTH ATLANTIC DISTRIBUTION1

• Published in: Limnology and Oceanography
• Main Author: Fournier, Robert O.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1971
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Oceanography; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.1971.16.6.0952; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.4319%2Flo.1971.16.6.0952; https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.1971.16.6.0952

Samples collected on three cruises in the North Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea indicate the existence of regional differences in the so‐called “olive‐green cells,” visible throughout most of the 5,000‐m water column, which appear to be related to euphotic phytoplankton activities. Despite the observed regionality in cell concentrations the mean vertical pattern of distribution for each cruise is identical Microscopic observations and settling rate calculations suggest that clumping of cells may be an important mechanism aiding the vertical transport of these microorganisms through the water column. Average estimates of the carbon represented by these cells yielded a range of 0.59–0.05 µ g C/liter, which accounted for about 10% of the total particulate organic carbon present at 400 and 4,800 m, respectively. However small these variations, they clearly demonstrate the variability in deep water of at least one component of the total particulate organic carbon pool. Microzooplankton are suggested as the most likely predators on these cells, which average 3.5‐ µ diameter. Since the standing stock of olive‐green cells is exceedingly small, any assessment of their importance as a nutritional source in deep water is intimately related with estimates of their renewal rate.