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Small phytoplankton drive high summertime carbon and nutrient export in the Gulf of California and Eastern Tropical North Pacific

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  • Summertime carbon, nitrogen, and biogenic silica export was examined using ²³⁴Th:²³⁸U disequilibria combined with free floating sediment traps and fine scale water column sampling with in situ pumps (ISP) within the Eastern Tropical North Pacific and the Gulf of California. Fine scale ISP sampling provides evidence that in this system, particulate carbon (PC) and particulate nitrogen (PN) concentrations were more rapidly attenuated relative to ²³⁴Th activities in small particles compared to large particles, converging to 1–5 µmol dpm⁻¹ by 100 m. Comparison of elemental particle composition, coupled with particle size distribution analysis, suggests that small particles are major contributors to particle flux. While absolute PC and PN export rates were dependent on the method used to obtain the element/²³⁴Th ratio, regional trends were consistent across measurement techniques. The highest C fixation rates were associated with diatom-dominated surface waters. Yet, the highest export efficiencies occurred in picoplankton-dominated surface waters, where relative concentrations of diazotrophs were also elevated. Our results add to the increasing body of literature that picoplankton- and diazotroph-dominated food webs in subtropical regions can be characterized by enhanced export efficiencies relative to food webs dominated by larger phytoplankton, e.g., diatoms, in low productivity pico/nanoplankton-dominated regions, where small particles are major contributors to particle export. Findings from this region are compared globally and provide insights into the efficiency of downward particle transport of carbon and associated nutrients in a warmer ocean where picoplankton and diazotrophs may dominate. Therefore, we argue the necessity of collecting multiple particle sizes used to convert ²³⁴Th fluxes into carbon or other elemental fluxes, including <50 µm, since they can play an important role in vertical fluxes, especially in oligotrophic environments. Our results further underscore the necessity of using multiple techniques to quantify particle flux given the uncertainties associated with each collection method.
  • This is the publisher’s final pdf. The article is copyrighted by American Geophysical Union and published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. It can be found at: http://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/agu/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291944-9224/
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  • Puigcorbé, V., Benitez‐Nelson, C. R., Masqué, P., Verdeny, E., White, A. E., Popp, B. N., ... & Lam, P. J. (2015). Small phytoplankton drive high summertime carbon and nutrient export in the Gulf of California and Eastern Tropical North Pacific. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 29(8), 1309-1332. doi:10.1002/2015GB005134
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  • 29
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  • 8
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  • Funding for this project was provided by NSF OCE-0726290 (C.B.N.), EU FP7-MC-IIF-220485 (C.B.N. and P.M.), MEC CTM2007-31241-E/MAR (P.M.), the ICREA Academia (P.M.) and MERS (2014 SGR - 1356) (P.M. and V.P.), funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya, Ph.D. Fellowships from Spain's Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia through grants AP-2009-4733 (V.P.) and BES-2004-3348 (E.V.), NSF OCF-0962362 (A.W.), NASA New Investigator Award NNX10AQ81G (A.W.), Sloan Research Fellowship (A.W.), NSF OCE-0726543 (B.N.P.), and NSF OCE-0726422 (F.P.). This is SOEST contribution number 9483.
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