Carbonate fluxes by coccolithophore species between Africa and the Caribbean : Implications for the biological carbon pump
Guerreiro, Catarina V. (University of Lisbon. Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre)
Baumann, Karl-Heinz (University of Bremen. Department of Geosciences (Germany))
Brummer, Geert-Jan (NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. Department of Ocean Systems (The Netherlands))
Valente, André (University of Lisbon. Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (Portugal))
Fischer, Gerhard (University of Bremen. Department of Geosciences (Germany))
Ziveri, Patrizia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Brotas, Vanda (University of Lisbon. Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (Portugal))
Stuut, Jan-Berend W. (NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. Department of Ocean Systems (The Netherlands))

Date:	2021
Abstract:	Coccolithophores are among the most important calcifying pelagic organisms. To assess how coccolithophore species with different coccolith-carbonate mass and distinct ecological resilience to ocean warming will influence the "rain ratio" and the "biological carbon pump", 1 yr of species-specific coccolith-carbonate export fluxes were quantified using sediment traps moored at four sites between NW Africa and the Caribbean (i. e. , CB-20°N/21°W, at 1214 m; M1-12°N/23°W, at 1150 m; M2-14°N/37°W, at 1235 m; M4-12°N/49°W, at 1130 m). Highest coccolith-CaCO fluxes at the westernmost site M4, where the nutricline is deepest along the tropical North Atlantic, were dominated by deep-dwelling small-sized coccolith species Florisphaera profunda and Gladiolithus flabellatus. Total coccolith-CaCO fluxes of 371 mg m −2 yr −1 at M4 were followed by 165 mg m −2 yr −1 at the north-easternmost CB, 130 mg m −2 yr −1 at M1, and 114 mg m −2 yr −1 at M2 in between. Coccoliths accounted for nearly half of the total carbonate flux at M4 (45%), much higher compared to 23% at M2 and 15% at M1 and CB. At site M4, highest ratios of coccolith-CaCO to particulate organic carbon fluxes and weak correlations between the carbonate of deep-dwelling species and particulate organic carbon suggest that increasing productivity in the lower photic zone in response to ocean warming might enhance the rain ratio and reduce the coccolith-ballasting efficiency. The resulting weakened biological carbon pump could, however, be counterbalanced by increasing frequency of Saharan dust outbreaks across the tropical Atlantic, providing mineral ballast as well as nutrients to fuel fast-blooming and ballast-efficient coccolithophore species.
Grants:	European Commission 311152 European Commission 600411 European Commission 796802 European Commission 810139 Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad CTM2016-79547-R Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-1588
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 66, Issue 8 (August 2021) , p. 3190-3208, ISSN 1939-5590

DOI: 10.1002/lno.11872
PMID: 34588708

19 p, 2.6 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
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