Do Oceanic Hypoxic Regions Act as Barriers for Sinking Particles? A Case Study in the Eastern Tropical North Atlantic

• Published in: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
• Main Authors: Rasse, Rafael, Dall'Olmo, Giorgio
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche (IMEV), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Plymouth University
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-02421663; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-02421663/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-02421663/file/Rasse_et_al-2019-Global_Biogeochemical_Cycles.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GB006305

International audience In oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), the attenuation rates of particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes of large particles are known to be reduced, thus increasing the efficiency with which the biological carbon pump (BCP) transfers carbon to the abyss. The BCP efficiency is expected to further increase if OMZs expand. However, little is known about how the POC fluxes of small particles-a significant component of the BCP-are attenuated inside OMZs. In this study, data collected by two BGC-Argo floats deployed in the hypoxic OMZ of the eastern tropical North Atlantic were used to estimate net instantaneous fluxes of POC via small particle during 3 years. This information was analyzed together with meteorological data and published POC fluxes of large particles and allowed us to conclude that (1) major pulses of surface-derived small particles toward the OMZ interior coincided with seasonal changes in wind stress and precipitation; (2) a permanent layer of small particles, presumably linked to microbial communities, was found in the upper section of the OMZ which might play a key role attenuating POC fluxes; and (3) fluxes of large particles were attenuated less efficiently inside this poorly oxygenated region than above it, while attenuation of small-particle fluxes were equivalent or significantly higher inside the OMZ. These results highlight that more information about the processes controlling the fluxes of small and large particles in hypoxic OMZs is needed to better understand the impact of hypoxic OMZs on the BCP efficiency.