scholarly journals 234Th deficit and excess in the Southern Ocean during spring 2001: Particle export and remineralization

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Savoye ◽  
K. O. Buesseler ◽  
D. Cardinal ◽  
F. Dehairs
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 8615-8690 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Rigual-Hernández ◽  
T. W. Trull ◽  
S. G. Bray ◽  
A. Cortina ◽  
L. K. Armand

Abstract. The Subantarctic and Polar Frontal zones (SAZ and PFZ) represent a large portion of the total area of the Southern Ocean and serve as a strong sink for atmospheric CO2. These regions are central to hypotheses linking particle fluxes and climate change, yet multi-year records of modern flux and the organisms that control it are, for obvious reasons, rare. In this study, we examine two sediment trap records of the flux of diatoms and bulk components collected by two bottom-tethered sediment traps deployed at mesopelagic depths (~ 1 km) in the SAZ (two-year record) and in the PFZ (six-year record) along the 140° E meridian. These traps provide a direct measure of transfer below winter mixed layer depths, i.e. at depths where effective sequestration from the atmosphere occurs, in contrast to study of processes in the surface ocean. Total mass fluxes were about two-fold higher in the PFZ (24 ± 13 g m−2 yr−1) than in the SAZ (14 ± 2 g m−2 yr−1). Bulk chemical composition of the particle fluxes mirrored the composition of the distinct plankton communities of the surface layer, being dominated by carbonate in the SAZ and by biogenic silica in the PFZ. POC export was similar for the annual average at both sites (1.0 ± 0.1 and 0.8 ± 0.4 g m−2 yr−1, for the PFZ and SAZ, respectively), indicating that the particles in the SAZ were relatively POC rich. Seasonality in the particle export was more pronounced in the PFZ. Peak fluxes occurred during summer in the PFZ and during spring in the SAZ. The strong summer pulses in the PFZ are responsible for a large fraction of the variability in carbon sequestration from the atmosphere in this region. The latitudinal variation of the total diatom flux was found to be in line with the biogenic silica export with an annual flux of 31 ± 5.5 × 108 valves m−2 yr−1 at the PFZ compared to 0.5 ± 0.4 × 108 m−2 yr−1 of the SAZ. Fragilariopsis kerguelensis dominated the annual diatom export at both sites (43 at the SAZ and 59% in the PFZ). POC fluxes displayed a strong positive correlation with the relative contribution of a group of weakly-silicified and bloom-forming species in the PFZ. Several lines of evidence suggest that the development of these species during the growth season facilitates the formation of aggregates and carbon export. Our results confirm previous work suggesting that F. kerguelensis is a major aspect of the decoupling of the carbon and silicon cycles in the high-nutrient low-chlorophyll waters of the Southern Ocean.


2017 ◽  
Vol 122 (10) ◽  
pp. 8278-8292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Rembauville ◽  
Nathan Briggs ◽  
Mathieu Ardyna ◽  
Julia Uitz ◽  
Philippe Catala ◽  
...  

2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 311-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. O. Buesseler ◽  
J. E. Andrews ◽  
S. M. Pike ◽  
M. A. Charette ◽  
L. E. Goldson ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 5309-5337 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Rigual-Hernández ◽  
T. W. Trull ◽  
S. G. Bray ◽  
A. Cortina ◽  
L. K. Armand

Abstract. The Subantarctic and Polar Frontal zones (SAZ and PFZ) represent a large portion of the total area of the Southern Ocean and serve as a strong sink for atmospheric CO2. These regions are central to hypotheses linking particle fluxes and climate change, yet multi-year records of modern flux and the organisms that control it are, for obvious reasons, rare. In this study, we examine two sediment trap records of the flux of diatoms and bulk components collected by two bottom-tethered sediment traps deployed at mesopelagic depths (~ 1 km) in the SAZ (2-year record; July 1999–October 2001) and in the PFZ (6-year record; September 1997–February 1998, July 1999–August 2000, November 2002–October 2004 and December 2005–October 2007) along the 140° E meridian. These traps provide a direct measure of transfer below winter mixed layer depths, i.e. at depths where effective sequestration from the atmosphere occurs, in contrast to study of processes in the surface ocean. Total mass fluxes were about twofold higher in the PFZ (24 ± 13 g m−2 yr−1) than in the SAZ (14 ± 2 g m−2 yr−1). Bulk chemical composition of the particle fluxes mirrored the composition of the distinct plankton communities of the surface layer, being dominated by carbonate in the SAZ and by biogenic silica in the PFZ. Particulate organic carbon (POC) export was similar for the annual average at both sites (1.0 ± 0.1 and 0.8 ± 0.4 g m−2 yr−1 for the PFZ and SAZ, respectively), indicating that the particles in the SAZ were relatively POC rich. Seasonality in the particle export was more pronounced in the PFZ. Peak fluxes occurred during summer in the PFZ and during spring in the SAZ. The strong summer pulses in the PFZ are responsible for a large fraction of the variability in carbon sequestration from the atmosphere in this region. The latitudinal variation of the total diatom flux was found to be in line with the biogenic silica export with an annual flux of 31 ± 5.5 × 108 valves m−2 yr−1 at the PFZ compared to 0.5 ± 0.4 × 108 m−2 yr−1 at the SAZ. Fragilariopsis kerguelensis dominated the annual diatom export at both sites (43 % at the SAZ and 59 % in the PFZ). POC fluxes displayed a strong positive correlation with the relative contribution of a group of weakly silicified and bloom-forming species in the PFZ. Several lines of evidence suggests that the development of these species during the growth season facilitates the formation of aggregates and carbon export. Our results confirm previous work suggesting that F. kerguelensis plays a major role in the decoupling of the carbon and silicon cycles in the high-nutrient low-chlorophyll waters of the Southern Ocean.


2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUSUMU HONJO

The organic carbon particle export to the interior layers in the Southern Ocean in the New Zealand–Tasmania Sector was approximately 170 mmolC m−2 yr−1. The export of particulate inorganic carbon in CaCO3 was 110 mmolC m−2 yr−1 and was contributed mostly by pteropods shells in the Antarctic Zones. The Si flux from biogenic opal at the sub-Antarctic Zone was 67 mmolSi m−2 yr−1 and rapidly increased to the south up to nearly 1 molSi m−2 yr−1 in the Antarctic Zone. The Antarctic Polar Front clearly demarcated the area where the biological pump was driven by CaCO3 to the north and biogenic SiO2 particle export to the south. Summer stratification caused by the sub-zero winter water layer in the Seasonal Ice Zone (SIZ) curtails the zooplankton community and hinders the replenishment of Fe. This hypothesis explains the large organic carbon export with large f- and export ratios at the SIZ and extremely large opal production at the Antarctic Circumpolar Zone. Estimated regeneration rate of CO2 from the export production and settling particulate fluxes of organic carbon in the water column between 100 m to 1 km was about 13 mmolC m−2 d−1 in the Antarctic Zone and Polar Frontal Zone.


2015 ◽  
Vol 526 ◽  
pp. 169-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Bedford ◽  
J Melbourne-Thomas ◽  
S Corney ◽  
T Jarvis ◽  
N Kelly ◽  
...  
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