Particle flux characterisation and sedimentation patterns of protistan plankton during the iron fertilisation experiment LOHAFEX in the Southern Ocean
| Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 2014-07 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Author(s) | Ebersbach Friederike1, 2, Assmy Philipp1, 2, Martin Patrick3, Schulz Isabelle1, 2, Wolzenburg Sina2, Noethig Eva-Maria2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Univ Bremen, MARUM Ctr Marine Environm Sci, D-28359 Bremen, Germany. 2 : Alfred Wegener Inst Polar & Marine Res, D-27570 Bremerhaven, Germany. 3 : Natl Oceanog Ctr, Southampton SO14 3ZH, Hants, England. |
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| Source | Deep-sea Research Part I-oceanographic Research Papers (0967-0637) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2014-07 , Vol. 89 , P. 94-103 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1016/j.dsr.2014.04.007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Keyword(s) | Nano- and picoplankton, Export flux, Iron fertilisation, Protists, Sediment trap, Southern Ocean | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | The taxonomic composition and types of particles comprising the downward particle flux were examined during the mesoscale artificial iron fertilisation experiment LOHAFEX. The experiment was conducted in low-silicate waters of the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean during austral summer (January-March 2009), and induced a bloom dominated by small flagellates. Downward particle flux was low throughout the experiment, and not enhanced by addition of iron; neutrally buoyant sediment traps contained mostly faecal pellets and faecal material apparently reprocessed by mesozooplankton. TEP fluxes were low, <= 5 mg GX eq. m(-2) d(-1), and a few phytodetrital aggregates were found in the sediment traps. Only a few per cent of the POC flux was found in the traps consisting of intact protist plankton, although remains of taxa with hard body parts (diatoms, tintinnids, thecate dinoflagellates and foraminifera) were numerous, far more so than intact specimens of these taxa. Nevertheless, many small flagellates and coccoid cells, belonging to the pico- and nanoplankton, were found in the traps, and these small, soft-bodied cells probably contributed the majority of downward POC flux via mesozooplankton grazing and faecal pellet export. TEP likely played an important role by aggregating these small cells, and making them more readily available to mesozooplankton grazers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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