Fluxes and budget of organic matter in the benthic boundary layer over the northwestern Mediterranean margin

Influence of coastal Mediterranean rivers on the organic matter composition and reactivity of continental shelf sediments: The case of the Têt River (Gulf of Lions, France)

“…C:N a comprised between 6 and 12 in sediments is considered as representing degraded organic detritus implying a breakdown of the more labile nitrogenous compounds (Table 2). Furthermore, a C:N a ratio higher than 13 indicates a significant participation of terrestrial organic matter (Buscail et al, 1990;Buscail and Germain, 1997;Goñi et al, 2003;Kim et al, 2006). C:N a ratios measured during this oneyear survey are consistent with those of previous investigations (Buscail et al, 1995;Kim et al, 2006).…”

“…The high temporal variability of these biomarkers confirms the dynamic nature of the inputs of plant detritus, which are controlled by river runoff, organic matter source seasonality and hydrodynamic conditions. In good consistency with our results, lignin degradation products were shown to vary by a ten-fold factor in the Têt prodelta (Buscail et al, 1990). This temporal variability in the coastal sands is also apparent from the contents of microalgal biomarkers, whose contribution increases in spring and summer (Fig.…”

Influence of coastal Mediterranean rivers on the organic matter composition and reactivity of continental shelf sediments: The case of the Têt River (Gulf of Lions, France)

“…C:N a comprised between 6 and 12 in sediments is considered as representing degraded organic detritus implying a breakdown of the more labile nitrogenous compounds (Table 2). Furthermore, a C:N a ratio higher than 13 indicates a significant participation of terrestrial organic matter (Buscail et al, 1990;Buscail and Germain, 1997;Goñi et al, 2003;Kim et al, 2006). C:N a ratios measured during this oneyear survey are consistent with those of previous investigations (Buscail et al, 1995;Kim et al, 2006).…”

“…The high temporal variability of these biomarkers confirms the dynamic nature of the inputs of plant detritus, which are controlled by river runoff, organic matter source seasonality and hydrodynamic conditions. In good consistency with our results, lignin degradation products were shown to vary by a ten-fold factor in the Têt prodelta (Buscail et al, 1990). This temporal variability in the coastal sands is also apparent from the contents of microalgal biomarkers, whose contribution increases in spring and summer (Fig.…”

Particle fluxes over a Mediterranean seagrass bed:a one year case study

“…The total measured flux of matter enterlng the traps over a complete annual cycle was about 1.3 kg m-2, which corresponds to a mean daily flux of 3.7 g m-2. These values are in good agreement with other published data (reviewed by Wassmann 1983), but are quite low compared with those measured, e.g., by Buscail et al (1990) and Monaco et al (1990) on the western French Mediterranean continental shelf (26 to 110 g m-' d-l), but the latter were influenced by land-derived inputs from the River Tet prodelta. In the Bay of Calvi, the only terrigenous inputs consist of eolian and rainfalldriven material which is negligible compared with the bulk of matter reaching the seafloor.…”

Particulate matter and organic carbon budgets for the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean)

“…Using a degraded fraction at the sediment-water interface of 60 %, the average degradation rate on the upper slope surface (3.9× 10 9 m 2 ) is about 10.49 1.4 gC•m − 2 •y − 1 . These estimates are close to the degraded fraction of 49 % and degradation rate of 11.5 gC m − 2 •y − 1 inferred by Buscail et al [7] at a single location in the Lacaze-Duthiers canyon. These authors further estimated on the inner shelf next to the Têt river mouth, a degraded fraction of 76 % and a degradation rate of 16.7 gC•m − 2 •y − 1 .…”

Influence of coastal Mediterranean rivers on the organic matter composition and reactivity of continental shelf sediments: The case of the Têt River (Gulf of Lions, France)

“…C:N a comprised between 6 and 12 in sediments is considered as representing degraded organic detritus implying a breakdown of the more labile nitrogenous compounds (Table 2). Furthermore, a C:N a ratio higher than 13 indicates a significant participation of terrestrial organic matter (Buscail et al, 1990;Buscail and Germain, 1997;Goñi et al, 2003;Kim et al, 2006). C:N a ratios measured during this oneyear survey are consistent with those of previous investigations (Buscail et al, 1995;Kim et al, 2006).…”

“…The high temporal variability of these biomarkers confirms the dynamic nature of the inputs of plant detritus, which are controlled by river runoff, organic matter source seasonality and hydrodynamic conditions. In good consistency with our results, lignin degradation products were shown to vary by a ten-fold factor in the Têt prodelta (Buscail et al, 1990). This temporal variability in the coastal sands is also apparent from the contents of microalgal biomarkers, whose contribution increases in spring and summer (Fig.…”

Particle fluxes over a Mediterranean seagrass bed:a one year case study

“…The total measured flux of matter enterlng the traps over a complete annual cycle was about 1.3 kg m-2, which corresponds to a mean daily flux of 3.7 g m-2. These values are in good agreement with other published data (reviewed by Wassmann 1983), but are quite low compared with those measured, e.g., by Buscail et al (1990) and Monaco et al (1990) on the western French Mediterranean continental shelf (26 to 110 g m-' d-l), but the latter were influenced by land-derived inputs from the River Tet prodelta. In the Bay of Calvi, the only terrigenous inputs consist of eolian and rainfalldriven material which is negligible compared with the bulk of matter reaching the seafloor.…”

Particulate matter and organic carbon budgets for the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean)

“…Using a degraded fraction at the sediment-water interface of 60 %, the average degradation rate on the upper slope surface (3.9× 10 9 m 2 ) is about 10.49 1.4 gC•m − 2 •y − 1 . These estimates are close to the degraded fraction of 49 % and degradation rate of 11.5 gC m − 2 •y − 1 inferred by Buscail et al [7] at a single location in the Lacaze-Duthiers canyon. These authors further estimated on the inner shelf next to the Têt river mouth, a degraded fraction of 76 % and a degradation rate of 16.7 gC•m − 2 •y − 1 .…”

Influence of coastal Mediterranean rivers on the organic matter composition and reactivity of continental shelf sediments: The case of the Têt River (Gulf of Lions, France)

“…C:N a comprised between 6 and 12 in sediments is considered as representing degraded organic detritus implying a breakdown of the more labile nitrogenous compounds (Table 2). Furthermore, a C:N a ratio higher than 13 indicates a significant participation of terrestrial organic matter (Buscail et al, 1990;Buscail and Germain, 1997;Goñi et al, 2003;Kim et al, 2006). C:N a ratios measured during this oneyear survey are consistent with those of previous investigations (Buscail et al, 1995;Kim et al, 2006).…”

“…The high temporal variability of these biomarkers confirms the dynamic nature of the inputs of plant detritus, which are controlled by river runoff, organic matter source seasonality and hydrodynamic conditions. In good consistency with our results, lignin degradation products were shown to vary by a ten-fold factor in the Têt prodelta (Buscail et al, 1990). This temporal variability in the coastal sands is also apparent from the contents of microalgal biomarkers, whose contribution increases in spring and summer (Fig.…”

Particle fluxes over a Mediterranean seagrass bed:a one year case study

“…The total measured flux of matter enterlng the traps over a complete annual cycle was about 1.3 kg m-2, which corresponds to a mean daily flux of 3.7 g m-2. These values are in good agreement with other published data (reviewed by Wassmann 1983), but are quite low compared with those measured, e.g., by Buscail et al (1990) and Monaco et al (1990) on the western French Mediterranean continental shelf (26 to 110 g m-' d-l), but the latter were influenced by land-derived inputs from the River Tet prodelta. In the Bay of Calvi, the only terrigenous inputs consist of eolian and rainfalldriven material which is negligible compared with the bulk of matter reaching the seafloor.…”

Particulate matter and organic carbon budgets for the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean)

“…Using a degraded fraction at the sediment-water interface of 60 %, the average degradation rate on the upper slope surface (3.9× 10 9 m 2 ) is about 10.49 1.4 gC•m − 2 •y − 1 . These estimates are close to the degraded fraction of 49 % and degradation rate of 11.5 gC m − 2 •y − 1 inferred by Buscail et al [7] at a single location in the Lacaze-Duthiers canyon. These authors further estimated on the inner shelf next to the Têt river mouth, a degraded fraction of 76 % and a degradation rate of 16.7 gC•m − 2 •y − 1 .…”