Plastic debris are resistant to degradation, and therefore tend to accumulate in marine environment. Nevertheless recent estimations of plastic concentrations at the surface of the ocean were lower than expected leading the communities to seek new sinks. Among the different processes suggested we chose to focus on the transport of microplastics from the surface to deeper layers of the ocean via phytoplankton aggregates that constitute most of the sinking flux. Interactions between microplastics and aggregates were studied by building a new device: the flow-through roller tank that mimics the behaviour of laboratory made aggregates sinking through a dense layer of microplastics. Three types of aggregates formed from two different algae species (the diatom Chaetoceros neogracile, the cryptophyte Rhodomonas salina and a mix) were used as model. With their frustule made of biogenic silica which is denser than the organic matter, diatom aggregates sunk faster than R. salina aggregates. Diatom aggregates were on average bigger and stickier while aggregates from R. salina were smaller and more fragile. With higher concentrations measured in R. salina aggregates, all model-aggregates incorporated and concentrated microplastics, substantially increasing the microplastic sinking rates from tenths to hundreds of metres per day. Our results clearly show that marine aggregates can be an efficient sink for microplastics by influencing their vertical distribution in the water column. Furthermore, despite the high plastic concentrations tested, our study opens new questions regarding the impact of plastics on sedimentation fluxes in oceans. As an effect of microplastic incorporation, the sinking rates of diatom aggregates strongly decreased meanwhile sinking rates of cryptophyte aggregates increased. Highlights ► Flow-through roller tank: a new equipment to study aggregation ► Comparing diatom and cryptophyte aggregate characteristics and sinking rates ► Phytoplankton aggregates incorporate and concentrate 2 μm polystyrene microbeads. ► Microplastic sinking is strongly increased by incorporation in aggregates.

Marine N2 fixation supports a significant portion of oceanic primary production by making N2 bioavailable to planktonic communities, in the process influencing atmosphere-ocean carbon fluxes and our global climate. However, the geographical distribution and controlling factors of marine N2 fixation remain elusive largely due to sparse observations. Here we present unprecedented high-resolution underway N2 fixation estimates across over 6000 kilometers of the western North Atlantic. Unexpectedly, we find increasing N2 fixation rates from the oligotrophic Sargasso Sea to North America coastal waters, driven primarily by cyanobacterial diazotrophs. N2 fixation is best correlated to phosphorus availability and chlorophyll-a concentration. Globally, intense N2 fixation activity in the coastal oceans is validated by a meta-analysis of published observations and we estimate the annual coastal N2 fixation flux to be 16.7 Tg N. This study broadens the biogeography of N2 fixation, highlights the interplay of regulating factors, and reveals thriving diazotrophic communities in coastal waters with potential significance to the global nitrogen and carbon cycles.

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Numerical simulations of ocean biogeochemical cycles need to adequately represent particle sinking velocities (SV). For decades, Stokes' Law estimating particle SV from density and size has been widely used. But while Stokes' Law holds for small, smooth, and rigid spheres settling at low Reynolds number, it fails when applied to marine aggregates complex in shape, structure, and composition. Minerals and zooplankton can alter phytoplankton aggregates in ways that change their SV, potentially improving the applicability of Stokes' models. Using rolling cylinders, we experimentally produced diatom aggregates in the presence and absence of minerals and/or microzooplankton. Minerals and to a lesser extent microzooplankton decreased aggregate size and roughness and increased their sphericity and compactness. Stokes' Law parameterized with a fractal porosity modeled adequately size‐SV relationships for mineral‐loaded aggregates. Phytoplankton‐only aggregates and those exposed to microzooplankton followed the general Navier‐Stokes drag equation suggesting an indiscernible effect of microzooplankton and a drag coefficient too complex to be calculated with a Stokes' assumption. We compared our results with a larger data set of ballasted and nonballasted marine aggregates. This confirmed that the size‐SV relationships for ballasted aggregates can be simulated by Stokes' models with an adequate fractal porosity parameterization. Given the importance of mineral ballasting in the ocean, our findings could ease biogeochemical model parameterization for a significant pool of particles in the ocean and especially in the mesopelagic zone where the particulate organic matter : mineral ratio decreases. Our results also reinforce the importance of accounting for porosity as a decisive predictor of marine aggregate SV.

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Abstract. The Green Edge initiative was developed to investigate the processes controlling the primary productivity and fate of organic matter produced during the Arctic phytoplankton spring bloom (PSB) and to determine its role in the ecosystem. Two field campaigns were conducted in 2015 and 2016 at an ice camp located on landfast sea ice southeast of Qikiqtarjuaq Island in Baffin Bay (67.4797∘ N, 63.7895∘ W). During both expeditions, a large suite of physical, chemical and biological variables was measured beneath a consolidated sea-ice cover from the surface to the bottom (at 360 m depth) to better understand the factors driving the PSB. Key variables, such as conservative temperature, absolute salinity, radiance, irradiance, nutrient concentrations, chlorophyll a concentration, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and taxonomy, and carbon stocks and fluxes were routinely measured at the ice camp. Meteorological and snow-relevant variables were also monitored. Here, we present the results of a joint effort to tidy and standardize the collected datasets, which will facilitate their reuse in other Arctic studies. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.17882/59892 (Massicotte et al., 2019a).

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Dissolved Fe (DFe) samples from the GEOVIDE voyage (GEOTRACES GA01, May–June 2014) in the North Atlantic Ocean were analysed using a Sea<i>FAST</i>-pico<sup>TM</sup> coupled to an Element XR HR-ICP-MS and provided interesting insights on the Fe sources in this area. Overall, DFe concentrations ranged from 0.09 ± 0.01 nmol L<sup>−1</sup> to 7.8 ± 0.5 nmol L<sup>−1</sup>. Elevated DFe concentrations were observed above the Iberian, Greenland and Newfoundland Margins likely due to riverine inputs from the Tagus River, meteoric water inputs and sedimentary inputs. Air-sea interactions were suspected to be responsible for the increase in DFe concentrations within subsurface waters of the Irminger Sea due to deep convection occurring the previous winter, that provided iron-to-nitrate ratios sufficient to sustain phytoplankton growth. Increasing DFe concentrations along the flow path of the Labrador Sea Water were attributed to sedimentary inputs from the Newfoundland Margin. Bottom waters from the Irminger Sea displayed high DFe concentrations likely due to the dissolution of Fe-rich particles from the Denmark Strait Overflow Water and the Polar Intermediate Water. Finally, the nepheloid layers were found to act as either a source or a sink of DFe depending on the nature of particles.</p>