Carbon export and transfer to depth across the Southern Ocean Great Calcite Belt
Sequestration of carbon by the marine biological pump depends on the processes that alter, remineralize, and preserve particulate organic carbon (POC) during transit to the deep ocean. Here, we present data collected from the Great Calcite Belt, a calcite-rich band across the Southern Ocean surface,...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
eScholarship, University of California
2015
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4sc7b8jj |
id |
ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org/ark:/13030/qt4sc7b8jj |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org/ark:/13030/qt4sc7b8jj 2023-05-15T18:25:10+02:00 Carbon export and transfer to depth across the Southern Ocean Great Calcite Belt Rosengard, SZ Lam, PJ Balch, WM Auro, ME Pike, S Drapeau, D Bowler, B 3953 - 3971 2015-07-02 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4sc7b8jj unknown eScholarship, University of California qt4sc7b8jj https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4sc7b8jj public Biogeosciences, vol 12, iss 13 Bioengineering Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Earth Sciences Environmental Sciences Biological Sciences article 2015 ftcdlib 2021-06-20T14:23:24Z Sequestration of carbon by the marine biological pump depends on the processes that alter, remineralize, and preserve particulate organic carbon (POC) during transit to the deep ocean. Here, we present data collected from the Great Calcite Belt, a calcite-rich band across the Southern Ocean surface, to compare the transformation of POC in the euphotic and mesopelagic zones of the water column. The 234Th-derived export fluxes and size-fractionated concentrations of POC, particulate inorganic carbon (PIC), and biogenic silica (BSi) were measured from the upper 1000 m of 27 stations across the Atlantic and Indian sectors of the Great Calcite Belt. POC export out of the euphotic zone was correlated with BSi export. PIC export was not, but did correlate positively with POC flux transfer efficiency. Moreover, regions of high BSi concentrations, which corresponded to regions with proportionally larger particles, exhibited higher attenuation of > 51 μm POC concentrations in the mesopelagic zone. The interplay among POC size partitioning, mineral composition, and POC attenuation suggests a more fundamental driver of POC transfer through both depth regimes in the Great Calcite Belt. In particular, we argue that diatom-rich communities produce large and labile POC aggregates, which not only generate high export fluxes but also drive more remineralization in the mesopelagic zone. We observe the opposite in communities with smaller calcifying phytoplankton, such as coccolithophores. We hypothesize that these differences are influenced by inherent differences in the lability of POC exported by different phytoplankton communities. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean University of California: eScholarship Indian Southern Ocean |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Bioengineering Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Earth Sciences Environmental Sciences Biological Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Bioengineering Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Earth Sciences Environmental Sciences Biological Sciences Rosengard, SZ Lam, PJ Balch, WM Auro, ME Pike, S Drapeau, D Bowler, B Carbon export and transfer to depth across the Southern Ocean Great Calcite Belt |
topic_facet |
Bioengineering Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Earth Sciences Environmental Sciences Biological Sciences |
description |
Sequestration of carbon by the marine biological pump depends on the processes that alter, remineralize, and preserve particulate organic carbon (POC) during transit to the deep ocean. Here, we present data collected from the Great Calcite Belt, a calcite-rich band across the Southern Ocean surface, to compare the transformation of POC in the euphotic and mesopelagic zones of the water column. The 234Th-derived export fluxes and size-fractionated concentrations of POC, particulate inorganic carbon (PIC), and biogenic silica (BSi) were measured from the upper 1000 m of 27 stations across the Atlantic and Indian sectors of the Great Calcite Belt. POC export out of the euphotic zone was correlated with BSi export. PIC export was not, but did correlate positively with POC flux transfer efficiency. Moreover, regions of high BSi concentrations, which corresponded to regions with proportionally larger particles, exhibited higher attenuation of > 51 μm POC concentrations in the mesopelagic zone. The interplay among POC size partitioning, mineral composition, and POC attenuation suggests a more fundamental driver of POC transfer through both depth regimes in the Great Calcite Belt. In particular, we argue that diatom-rich communities produce large and labile POC aggregates, which not only generate high export fluxes but also drive more remineralization in the mesopelagic zone. We observe the opposite in communities with smaller calcifying phytoplankton, such as coccolithophores. We hypothesize that these differences are influenced by inherent differences in the lability of POC exported by different phytoplankton communities. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rosengard, SZ Lam, PJ Balch, WM Auro, ME Pike, S Drapeau, D Bowler, B |
author_facet |
Rosengard, SZ Lam, PJ Balch, WM Auro, ME Pike, S Drapeau, D Bowler, B |
author_sort |
Rosengard, SZ |
title |
Carbon export and transfer to depth across the Southern Ocean Great Calcite Belt |
title_short |
Carbon export and transfer to depth across the Southern Ocean Great Calcite Belt |
title_full |
Carbon export and transfer to depth across the Southern Ocean Great Calcite Belt |
title_fullStr |
Carbon export and transfer to depth across the Southern Ocean Great Calcite Belt |
title_full_unstemmed |
Carbon export and transfer to depth across the Southern Ocean Great Calcite Belt |
title_sort |
carbon export and transfer to depth across the southern ocean great calcite belt |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4sc7b8jj |
op_coverage |
3953 - 3971 |
geographic |
Indian Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Indian Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, vol 12, iss 13 |
op_relation |
qt4sc7b8jj https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4sc7b8jj |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1766206410383687680 |