Slow Sinking Particulate Organic Carbon in the Atlantic Ocean: magnitude, flux and potential controls
The remineralization depth of particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes exported from the surface ocean exert a major control over atmospheric CO₂ levels. According to a long held paradigm most of the POC exported to depth is associated with large particles. However, recent lines of evidence suggest t...
Published in: | Global Biogeochemical Cycles |
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:411978 2023-07-30T04:07:01+02:00 Slow Sinking Particulate Organic Carbon in the Atlantic Ocean: magnitude, flux and potential controls Baker, Chelsey A. Henson, Stephanie A. Cavan, Emma L. Giering, Sarah L.C. Yool, Andrew Gehlen, Marion Belcher, Anna Riley, Jennifer S. Smith, Helen E. K. Sanders, Richard 2017-07-11 text https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/411978/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/411978/1/CBaker_SlowSinkingPOCManuscript_GBC_v3_1_.docx https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/411978/2/Baker_et_al_2017_Global_Biogeochemical_Cycles.pdf en English eng https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/411978/1/CBaker_SlowSinkingPOCManuscript_GBC_v3_1_.docx https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/411978/2/Baker_et_al_2017_Global_Biogeochemical_Cycles.pdf Baker, Chelsey A., Henson, Stephanie A., Cavan, Emma L., Giering, Sarah L.C., Yool, Andrew, Gehlen, Marion, Belcher, Anna, Riley, Jennifer S., Smith, Helen E. K. and Sanders, Richard (2017) Slow Sinking Particulate Organic Carbon in the Atlantic Ocean: magnitude, flux and potential controls. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 31 (7), 1051–1065. (doi:10.1002/2017GB005638 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017GB005638>). cc_by_4 Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GB005638 2023-07-09T22:16:14Z The remineralization depth of particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes exported from the surface ocean exert a major control over atmospheric CO₂ levels. According to a long held paradigm most of the POC exported to depth is associated with large particles. However, recent lines of evidence suggest that slow sinking POC (SSPOC) may be an important contributor to this flux. Here we assess the circumstances under which this occurs. Our study uses samples collected using the Marine Snow Catcher throughout the Atlantic Ocean, from high latitudes to mid latitudes. We find median SSPOC concentrations of 5.5 μg L-1, 13 times smaller than suspended POC concentrations and 75 times higher than median fast sinking POC (FSPOC) concentrations (0.07 μg L-1). Export fluxes of SSPOC generally exceed FSPOC flux, with the exception being during a spring bloom sampled in the Southern Ocean. In the Southern Ocean SSPOC fluxes often increase with depth relative to FSPOC flux, likely due to midwater fragmentation of FSPOC, a process which may contribute to shallow mineralization of POC and hence to reduced carbon storage. Biogeochemical models do not generally reproduce this behaviour, meaning that they likely overestimate long term ocean carbon storage. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Southern Ocean Global Biogeochemical Cycles 31 7 1051 1065 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthampton |
language |
English |
description |
The remineralization depth of particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes exported from the surface ocean exert a major control over atmospheric CO₂ levels. According to a long held paradigm most of the POC exported to depth is associated with large particles. However, recent lines of evidence suggest that slow sinking POC (SSPOC) may be an important contributor to this flux. Here we assess the circumstances under which this occurs. Our study uses samples collected using the Marine Snow Catcher throughout the Atlantic Ocean, from high latitudes to mid latitudes. We find median SSPOC concentrations of 5.5 μg L-1, 13 times smaller than suspended POC concentrations and 75 times higher than median fast sinking POC (FSPOC) concentrations (0.07 μg L-1). Export fluxes of SSPOC generally exceed FSPOC flux, with the exception being during a spring bloom sampled in the Southern Ocean. In the Southern Ocean SSPOC fluxes often increase with depth relative to FSPOC flux, likely due to midwater fragmentation of FSPOC, a process which may contribute to shallow mineralization of POC and hence to reduced carbon storage. Biogeochemical models do not generally reproduce this behaviour, meaning that they likely overestimate long term ocean carbon storage. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Baker, Chelsey A. Henson, Stephanie A. Cavan, Emma L. Giering, Sarah L.C. Yool, Andrew Gehlen, Marion Belcher, Anna Riley, Jennifer S. Smith, Helen E. K. Sanders, Richard |
spellingShingle |
Baker, Chelsey A. Henson, Stephanie A. Cavan, Emma L. Giering, Sarah L.C. Yool, Andrew Gehlen, Marion Belcher, Anna Riley, Jennifer S. Smith, Helen E. K. Sanders, Richard Slow Sinking Particulate Organic Carbon in the Atlantic Ocean: magnitude, flux and potential controls |
author_facet |
Baker, Chelsey A. Henson, Stephanie A. Cavan, Emma L. Giering, Sarah L.C. Yool, Andrew Gehlen, Marion Belcher, Anna Riley, Jennifer S. Smith, Helen E. K. Sanders, Richard |
author_sort |
Baker, Chelsey A. |
title |
Slow Sinking Particulate Organic Carbon in the Atlantic Ocean: magnitude, flux and potential controls |
title_short |
Slow Sinking Particulate Organic Carbon in the Atlantic Ocean: magnitude, flux and potential controls |
title_full |
Slow Sinking Particulate Organic Carbon in the Atlantic Ocean: magnitude, flux and potential controls |
title_fullStr |
Slow Sinking Particulate Organic Carbon in the Atlantic Ocean: magnitude, flux and potential controls |
title_full_unstemmed |
Slow Sinking Particulate Organic Carbon in the Atlantic Ocean: magnitude, flux and potential controls |
title_sort |
slow sinking particulate organic carbon in the atlantic ocean: magnitude, flux and potential controls |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/411978/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/411978/1/CBaker_SlowSinkingPOCManuscript_GBC_v3_1_.docx https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/411978/2/Baker_et_al_2017_Global_Biogeochemical_Cycles.pdf |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/411978/1/CBaker_SlowSinkingPOCManuscript_GBC_v3_1_.docx https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/411978/2/Baker_et_al_2017_Global_Biogeochemical_Cycles.pdf Baker, Chelsey A., Henson, Stephanie A., Cavan, Emma L., Giering, Sarah L.C., Yool, Andrew, Gehlen, Marion, Belcher, Anna, Riley, Jennifer S., Smith, Helen E. K. and Sanders, Richard (2017) Slow Sinking Particulate Organic Carbon in the Atlantic Ocean: magnitude, flux and potential controls. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 31 (7), 1051–1065. (doi:10.1002/2017GB005638 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017GB005638>). |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GB005638 |
container_title |
Global Biogeochemical Cycles |
container_volume |
31 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1051 |
op_container_end_page |
1065 |
_version_ |
1772820079693529088 |