Attenuation of sinking particulate organic carbon flux through the mesopelagic ocean.

ABSTRACT: The biological carbon pump, which transports particulate organic carbon (POC) from the surface to the deep ocean, plays an important role in regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. We know very little about geographical variability in the remineralization depth of this sinking material and less about what controls such variability. Here we present previously unpublished profiles of mesopelagic POC flux derived from neutrally buoyant sediment traps deployed in the North Atlantic, from which we calculate the remineralization length scale for each site. Combining these results with corresponding data from the North Pacific, we show that the observed variability in attenuation of vertical POC flux can largely be explained by temperature, with shallower remineralization occu

SUBMITTER: Marsay CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4313834 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature