Vertical Marine Snow Distribution in the Stratified Hypersaline, and Anoxic Orca Basin (Gulf of Mexico)
We present a complete description of the depth distribution of marine snow in Orca Basin (Gulf of Mexico), from sea surface through the pycnocline to within 10 m of the seafloor. Orca Basin is an intriguing location for studying marine snow because of its unique geological and hydrographic setting:...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Text |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
The Aquila Digital Community
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/15895 https://aquila.usm.edu/context/fac_pubs/article/17206/viewcontent/vertical_marine_snow.pdf https://aquila.usm.edu/context/fac_pubs/article/17206/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/elementa_7_348_s1.pdf |
id |
ftsouthmissispun:oai:aquila.usm.edu:fac_pubs-17206 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftsouthmissispun:oai:aquila.usm.edu:fac_pubs-17206 2023-07-30T04:06:08+02:00 Vertical Marine Snow Distribution in the Stratified Hypersaline, and Anoxic Orca Basin (Gulf of Mexico) Diercks, Arne Ziervogel, Kai Sibert, Ryan Joye, Samantha B. Asper, Vernon 2019-02-14T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/15895 https://aquila.usm.edu/context/fac_pubs/article/17206/viewcontent/vertical_marine_snow.pdf https://aquila.usm.edu/context/fac_pubs/article/17206/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/elementa_7_348_s1.pdf unknown The Aquila Digital Community https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/15895 https://aquila.usm.edu/context/fac_pubs/article/17206/viewcontent/vertical_marine_snow.pdf https://aquila.usm.edu/context/fac_pubs/article/17206/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/elementa_7_348_s1.pdf Faculty Publications Gulf of Mexico Orca Basin marine snow CDOM DOC Brine Lake Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Physical Sciences and Mathematics text 2019 ftsouthmissispun 2023-07-15T18:52:02Z We present a complete description of the depth distribution of marine snow in Orca Basin (Gulf of Mexico), from sea surface through the pycnocline to within 10 m of the seafloor. Orca Basin is an intriguing location for studying marine snow because of its unique geological and hydrographic setting: the deepest ~200 m of the basin are filled with anoxic hypersaline brine. A typical deep ocean profile of marine snow distribution was observed from the sea surface to the pycnocline, namely a surface maximum in total particle number and midwater minimum. However, instead of a nepheloid (particle-rich) layer positioned near the seabed, the nepheloid layer in the Orca Basin was positioned atop the brine. Within the brine, the total particle volume increased by a factor of 2–3 while the total particle number decreased, indicating accumulation and aggregation of material in the brine. From these observations we infer increased residence time and retention of material within the brine, which agrees well with laboratory results showing a 2.2–3.5-fold reduction in settling speed of laboratory-generated marine snow below the seawater-brine interface. Similarly, dissolved organic carbon concentration in the brine correlated positively with measured colored dissolved organic matter (r2 = 0.92, n = 15), with both variables following total particle volume inversely through the pycnocline. These data indicate the release of dissolved organic carbon concomitant with loss in total particle volume and increase in particle numbers at the brine-seawater interface, highlighting the importance of the Orca Basin as a carbon sink. Text Orca The University of Southern Mississippi: The Aquila Digital Community |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Southern Mississippi: The Aquila Digital Community |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthmissispun |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Gulf of Mexico Orca Basin marine snow CDOM DOC Brine Lake Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Physical Sciences and Mathematics |
spellingShingle |
Gulf of Mexico Orca Basin marine snow CDOM DOC Brine Lake Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Physical Sciences and Mathematics Diercks, Arne Ziervogel, Kai Sibert, Ryan Joye, Samantha B. Asper, Vernon Vertical Marine Snow Distribution in the Stratified Hypersaline, and Anoxic Orca Basin (Gulf of Mexico) |
topic_facet |
Gulf of Mexico Orca Basin marine snow CDOM DOC Brine Lake Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Physical Sciences and Mathematics |
description |
We present a complete description of the depth distribution of marine snow in Orca Basin (Gulf of Mexico), from sea surface through the pycnocline to within 10 m of the seafloor. Orca Basin is an intriguing location for studying marine snow because of its unique geological and hydrographic setting: the deepest ~200 m of the basin are filled with anoxic hypersaline brine. A typical deep ocean profile of marine snow distribution was observed from the sea surface to the pycnocline, namely a surface maximum in total particle number and midwater minimum. However, instead of a nepheloid (particle-rich) layer positioned near the seabed, the nepheloid layer in the Orca Basin was positioned atop the brine. Within the brine, the total particle volume increased by a factor of 2–3 while the total particle number decreased, indicating accumulation and aggregation of material in the brine. From these observations we infer increased residence time and retention of material within the brine, which agrees well with laboratory results showing a 2.2–3.5-fold reduction in settling speed of laboratory-generated marine snow below the seawater-brine interface. Similarly, dissolved organic carbon concentration in the brine correlated positively with measured colored dissolved organic matter (r2 = 0.92, n = 15), with both variables following total particle volume inversely through the pycnocline. These data indicate the release of dissolved organic carbon concomitant with loss in total particle volume and increase in particle numbers at the brine-seawater interface, highlighting the importance of the Orca Basin as a carbon sink. |
format |
Text |
author |
Diercks, Arne Ziervogel, Kai Sibert, Ryan Joye, Samantha B. Asper, Vernon |
author_facet |
Diercks, Arne Ziervogel, Kai Sibert, Ryan Joye, Samantha B. Asper, Vernon |
author_sort |
Diercks, Arne |
title |
Vertical Marine Snow Distribution in the Stratified Hypersaline, and Anoxic Orca Basin (Gulf of Mexico) |
title_short |
Vertical Marine Snow Distribution in the Stratified Hypersaline, and Anoxic Orca Basin (Gulf of Mexico) |
title_full |
Vertical Marine Snow Distribution in the Stratified Hypersaline, and Anoxic Orca Basin (Gulf of Mexico) |
title_fullStr |
Vertical Marine Snow Distribution in the Stratified Hypersaline, and Anoxic Orca Basin (Gulf of Mexico) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Vertical Marine Snow Distribution in the Stratified Hypersaline, and Anoxic Orca Basin (Gulf of Mexico) |
title_sort |
vertical marine snow distribution in the stratified hypersaline, and anoxic orca basin (gulf of mexico) |
publisher |
The Aquila Digital Community |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/15895 https://aquila.usm.edu/context/fac_pubs/article/17206/viewcontent/vertical_marine_snow.pdf https://aquila.usm.edu/context/fac_pubs/article/17206/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/elementa_7_348_s1.pdf |
genre |
Orca |
genre_facet |
Orca |
op_source |
Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/15895 https://aquila.usm.edu/context/fac_pubs/article/17206/viewcontent/vertical_marine_snow.pdf https://aquila.usm.edu/context/fac_pubs/article/17206/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/elementa_7_348_s1.pdf |
_version_ |
1772818573924761600 |