Particulate matter sinking to the deep-sea floor at 2000 M in the Tongue of the Ocean, Bahamas, with a description of a new sedimentation trap

Wiebe, Peter H.; Boyd, Steven H.; Winget, Clifford L.

doi:10.1575/1912/1792

Cited by 43 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Fowler & Small found higher rates of sinking for euphausiids than Smayda (1969). Wiebe et al (1976) obtained faecal pellets with sediment traps. The faeces were counted under a microscope, measured and subsequently frozen until the measurement of the rate of sinking.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical distribution of faecal pellets during FLEX '76

Krause

1981

Helgoländer Meeresunters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

During FLEX '76 (Fladen Ground Experiment), the vertical distribution of faecal pellets was studied at a time station on the Fladen Ground (North Sea). Generally, the faecal pellets showed a clearly-defined maximum above the main thermocline within a depth of 0-30 m. Only in a period of storms was the faeces-maximum lowered to the main thermocline, which occurred at 50-60 m depth. The maximum numbers of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus, the most important producer of faecal pellets, initially occupied the same level as the faeces maximum. However, from the middle of May, the C. finmarchicus population started a diel vertical migration, during which, as a rule, the copepods migrated away from the surface region into deeper waters. On this occasion, the faecal pellet maximum did not break up but remained in the uppermost layer of the water column. The high concentrations of faecal peilets found within the uppermost 30 m of the water column contradict the extremely high sinking rates of faeces reported by various authors. The quotients of the depth-integrated counts of faecal pellets and C. finmarchicus individuals were calculated. The main maximum of faeces per individual occurred in the period between 28 April and 6 May 1976. A second, smaller maximum was documented between 23-28 May 1976. These two maxima coincided with the development of phytoplankton blooms observed at this particular time station.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical distribution of faecal pellets during FLEX '76

Krause

1981

Helgoländer Meeresunters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, larger parcels of organic matter, including coastal and terrestrial macrophytes (e.g. Menzies et al 1967;Schoener and Rowe 1970;Wiebe et al, 1976;Suchanek et al 1985;Wolff 1979) and pelagic animals (e.g. Jannasch 1978;Cacchione et al 1978), have been observed on the deep sea floor and are also passively transported through the water column.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food energy supply and demand: A discrepancy between particulate organic carbon flux and sediment community oxygen consumption in the deep ocean1

Smith¹

1987

Limnology & Oceanography

184

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) flux to the benthic boundary layer were concurrently measured at five deep-sea stations on a transect across the eastern and central North Pacific at various times of year. A free vehicle grab respirometer and Alvin-manipulated grab respirometer were used to measure SCOC. Paired particle interceptor traps (PITS) were used to collect sedimenting small POC at 100 and 600 m above the bottom. SCOC decreased across the transect from the eutrophic coastal areas off southern California to the oligotrophic central Pacific gyre. These rates were generally highest in June and lowest between fall and early spring across the transect with a recurrent pattern in the magnitude of rates measured during the same months but different years. Flux of POC into the benthic boundary layer decreased across the transect from the eutrophic eastern to the oligotrophic central Pacific. No consistent temporal trends were evident in POC flux across the transect, possibly because of small sample sizes, high intra-station variability, and short-term deployments (57 d). Comparison of concurrently measured supply of POC with organic carbon demand of the sediment community as estimated from SCOC reveals a supply deficit across the transect for all seasons measured. For one nearly synoptic sampling period across the transect in June 1982, the supply-to-demand ratio is lowest at the two nearshore stations where current speeds are highest. A predictive equation for SCOC with a least-squares regression analysis and log-transformed data revealed that POC flux as the independent variable accounted for only 59% of the variability in SCOC. Direct coupling between SCOC and POC flux is not confirmed by these results, which may be attributed to the limitations of the measurements or other organic carbon sources.Sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC) has been measured at various times of year at five deep sea stations on a transect across the eastern and central North Pacific (CNP-ENP transect) over the past 8 yr. Initial results indicated spatial variability in SCOC which increased along a gradient of increasing surface water primary productivity from the oligotrophic central gyre to the more eutrophic coastal upwelling areas off southern California . Temporal variability was also identified in SCOC at two of the transect stations and appeared related to the seasonal productivity of the overlying water (Smith and Baldwin 1984a). This result is not surprising given recent reports of seasonal fluctuations in the fluxes of small organic particles to abyssal depths (Deuser and Ross 1980; l This research was supported by NSF grants OCE 81-17661, OCE 84-09075, and OCE 84-17913 and a contract from Sandia Laboratories. Deuser et al. 198 1;Honjo 1982;Billett et al. 1983;Cole et al. 1985)-a source of food supply for deep sea benthos. The next logical step is to explore the possible coupling between this food supply from the overlying water column and the food demand of...

show abstract

“…These were largely derived from research focused on the ecology of deep-sea fauna (e.g., Wolff, 1979) and carbon sources to marine food webs (Baeta et al, 2009), and also included research motivated by the study of organic matter fluxes to the deep sea (e.g., Wiebe et al, 1976), surveys of marine debris (Wei et al, 2012), assessments of kelp contributions to deep-sea sediments (e.g., Harrold et al, 1998), and assessments of the sources of sediment organic matter (e.g., Boysen-Jensen, 1914;Boschker et al, 2000), among other research topics. Taken in concert, however, these reports produce strong and compelling evidence that seagrass meadows contribute to sedimentary carbon stocks in bare sediments extending from shallow littoral areas to the hadal regions of the ocean.…”

Section: Contribution Of Exported Seagrass Carbon To Carbon Sequestramentioning

confidence: 99%

Export from Seagrass Meadows Contributes to Marine Carbon Sequestration

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Seagrasses export a substantial portion of their primary production, both in particulate and dissolved organic form, but the fate of this export production remains unaccounted for in terms of seagrass carbon sequestration. Here we review available evidence on the fate of seagrass carbon export to conclude that this represents a significant contribution to carbon sequestration, both in sediments outside seagrass meadows and in the deep sea. The evidence presented implies that the contribution of seagrass meadows to carbon sequestration has been underestimated by only including carbon burial within seagrass sediments.

show abstract

Particulate matter sinking to the deep-sea floor at 2000 M in the Tongue of the Ocean, Bahamas, with a description of a new sedimentation trap

Abstract: Comparison of the sedimentation trap estimates of organic carbon input to the sea floor in this area with benthic energy requirements indicates that rapidly sinking small particulate matter could supply approximately 14% of the metabolic requirements of the benthos.

Cited by 43 publications

References 19 publications

Vertical distribution of faecal pellets during FLEX '76

Vertical distribution of faecal pellets during FLEX '76

Food energy supply and demand: A discrepancy between particulate organic carbon flux and sediment community oxygen consumption in the deep ocean1

Export from Seagrass Meadows Contributes to Marine Carbon Sequestration

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About