Open Ocean Particle Flux Variability From Surface to Seafloor
Name
Geophysical Research Letters - 2021 - Cael - Open Ocean Particle Flux Variability From Surface to Seafloor.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.45 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
e880cb92217957b48f70a9a79bca756f
Author(s)
Cael, BB
Bisson, Kelsey
Conte, Maureen
Duret, Manon T
Follett, Christopher L
Henson, Stephanie A
Honda, Makio C
Iversen, Morten H
Karl, David M
Lampitt, Richard S
Date Issued
April 18, 2021
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Citation
Cael, B. B., Bisson, K., Conte, M., Duret, M. T., Follett, C. L., Henson, S. A., et al. (2021). Open ocean particle flux variability from surface to seafloor. Geophysical Research Letters, 48, e2021GL092895.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The sinking of carbon fixed via net primary production (NPP) into the ocean interior is an important part of marine biogeochemical cycles. NPP measurements follow a log‐normal probability distribution, meaning NPP variations can be simply described by two parameters despite NPP's complexity. By analyzing a global database of open ocean particle fluxes, we show that this log‐normal probability distribution propagates into the variations of near‐seafloor fluxes of particulate organic carbon (POC), calcium carbonate, and opal. Deep‐sea particle fluxes at subtropical and temperate time‐series sites follow the same log‐normal probability distribution, strongly suggesting the log‐normal description is robust and applies on multiple scales. This log‐normality implies that 29% of the highest measurements are responsible for 71% of the total near‐seafloor POC flux. We discuss possible causes for the dampening of variability from NPP to deep‐sea POC flux, and present an updated relationship predicting POC flux from mineral flux and depth.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021gl092895
