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1.
Thorium-234 is increasingly used as a tracer of ocean particle flux, primarily as a means to estimate particulate organic carbon export from the surface ocean. This requires determination of both the 234Th activity distribution (in order to calculate 234Th fluxes) and an estimate of the C / 234Th ratio on sinking particles, to empirically derive C fluxes. In reviewing C / 234Th variability, results obtained using a single sampling method show the most predictable behavior. For example, in most studies that employ in situ pumps to collect size fractionated particles, C / 234Th either increases or is relatively invariant with increasing particle size (size classes > 1 to 100s μm). Observations also suggest that C / 234Th decreases with depth and can vary significantly between regions (highest in blooms of large diatoms and highly productive coastal settings). Comparisons of C fluxes derived from 234Th show good agreement with independent estimates of C flux, including mass balances of C and nutrients over appropriate space and time scales (within factors of 2–3). We recommend sampling for C / 234Th from a standard depth of 100 m, or at least one depth below the mixed layer using either large volume size fractionated filtration to capture the rarer large particles, or a sediment trap or other device to collect sinking particles. We also recommend collection of multiple 234Th profiles and C / 234Th samples during the course of longer observation periods to better sample temporal variations in both 234Th flux and the characteristic of sinking particles. We are encouraged by new technologies which are optimized to more reliably sample truly settling particles, and expect the utility of this tracer to increase, not just for upper ocean C fluxes but for other elements and processes deeper in the water column.  相似文献   

2.
In order to better understand the relationship between the natural radionuclide 234Th and particulate organic carbon (POC), marine particles were collected in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (spring/summer, 2003 and 2005) by sediment traps that separated them according to their in situ settling velocities. Particles also were collected in time-series sediment traps. Particles settling at rates of >100 m d−1 carried 50% and 60% of the POC and 234Th fluxes, respectively, in both sampling years. The POC flux decreased with depth for all particle settling velocity intervals, with the greatest decrease (factor of 2.3) in the slowly settling intervals (0.68–49 m d−1) over trap depths of 524–1918 m, likely due to dissolution and decomposition of material. In contrast the flux of 234Th associated with the slowly settling particles remained constant with depth, while 234Th fluxes on the rapidly settling particles increased. Taking into account decay of 234Th on the settling particles, the patterns of 234Th flux with depth suggest that either both slow and fast settling particles scavenge additional 234Th during their descent or there is significant exchange between the particle classes. The observed changes in POC and 234Th flux produce a general decrease in POC/234Th of the settling particles with depth. There is no consistent trend in POC/234Th with settling velocity, such as might be expected from surface area and volume considerations. Good correlations are observed between 234Th and POC, lithogenic material and CaCO3 for all settling velocity intervals. Pseudo-Kds calculated for 234Th in the shallow traps (2005) are ranked as lithogenic material opal <calcium carbonate <organic carbon. Organic carbon contributes 33% to the bulk Kd, and for lithogenic material, opal and CaCO3, the fraction is 22% each. Decreases in POC/234Th with depth are accompanied by increases in the ratio of 234Th to lithogenic material and opal. No change in the relationship between 234Th and CaCO3 was evident with depth. These patterns are consistent with loss of POC through decomposition, opal through dissolution and additional scavenging of 234Th onto lithogenic material as the particles sink.  相似文献   

3.
Uncertainties in the determinations of particulate organic carbon flux from measurements of the disequilibrium between 234Th and its mother isotope uranium depend largely on the determination of the organic carbon to 234thorium (OC : 234Th) ratio. The variability of the OC : 234Th ratio in different size fractions of suspended matter, ranging from the truly dissolved (< 3 or 10 kDa) fraction to several millimeter sized marine snow, as well as from sediment trap material was assessed during an eight-day cruise off the coast of California in Spring 1997. The affinity of polysaccharide particles called TEP (transparent exopolymer particles) and inorganic clays to 234Th was investigated through correlations. The observed decrease in the OC : 234Th ratio with size, within the truly dissolved to small particle size range, is consistent with concepts of irreversible colloidal aggregation of non-porous nano-aggregates. No consistent trend in the OC : 234Th ratio was observed for particles between 1 or 10 to 6000 μm. Origin and fate of marine particles belonging to this size range are diverse and interactions with 234Th too complex to expect a consistent relationship between OC : 234Th ratio and size, if all categories of particles are included. The relationship between OC and 234Th was significant when data from the truly dissolved fraction were excluded. However, variability was very large, implying that OC flux calculations using different collection methods (e.g. sediment trap, Niskin bottles or pumps) would differ significantly. Therefore a large uncertainty in OC flux calculations based on the 234Th method exist due to individual decisions as to which types or size classes of particles best represent sinking material in a specific area. Preferential binding of 234Th to specific substance classes could explain the high variability in the relationship between OC and 234Th. At 15 m, in the absence of lithogenic material, the OC : 234Th ratio was a function of the fraction of TEP or TEP-precursors in OC, confirming that acidic polysaccharides have a high affinity for 234Th and that TEP carry a ligand for 234Th. Preferential binding to TEP might change distribution patterns of 234Th considerably, as TEP may sink when included in large aggregates, or remain suspended or even ascend when existing as individual particles or microaggregates. In the presence of lithogenic matter, at depths below 30 m, the ratio between 234Th and OC was linearly related to the ratio between alumino silicates and C. The affinity of inorganic substances to 234Th is known to be relatively low, suggesting that a coating of acidic polysaccharides was responsible for the apparently high affinity between 234Th and lithogenic material. Overall, OC : 234Th ratios of all material collected during this investigation can best be explained by differential binding of 234Th to both TEP and TEP-precursors, as well as to lithogenic minerals, which were very abundant in an intermediate nepheloid layer between 50 and 90 m.  相似文献   

4.
Disequilibrium between 234Th and 238U in water column profiles has been used to estimate the settling flux of Th (and, by proxy, of particulate organic carbon); yet potentially major non-steady-state influences on 234Th profiles are often not able to be considered in estimations of flux. We have compared temporal series of 234Th distributions in the upper water column at both coastal and deep-water sites in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea to coeval sediment trap records at the same sites. We have used sediment trap records of 234Th fluxes to predict temporal changes in water column 234Th deficits and have compared the predicted deficits to those measured to determine whether the time-evolution of the two coincide. At the coastal site (327 m water depth), trends in the two estimates of water column 234Th deficits are in fairly close agreement over the 1-month deployment during the spring bloom in 1999. In contrast, the pattern of water column 234Th deficits is poorly predicted by sediment trap records at the deep-water site (DYFAMED, 2300 m water depth) in both 2003 and 2005. In particular, the transition from a mesotrophic to an oligotrophic system, clearly seen in trap fluxes, is not evident in water column 234Th profiles, which show high-frequency variability. Allowing trapping efficiencies to vary from 100% does not reconcile the differences between trap and water column deficit observations; we conclude that substantial lateral and vertical advective influences must be invoked to account for the differences.Advective influences are potentially greater on 234Th fluxes derived from water column deficits relative to those obtained from traps because the calculation of deficits in open-ocean settings is dominated by the magnitude of the “dissolved” 234Th fraction. For observed current velocities of 5–20 cm s−1, in one radioactive mean-life of 234Th, the water column at the DYFAMED site can reflect 234Th scavenging produced tens to hundreds of kilometers away. In contrast, most of the 234Th flux collected in shallow sediment traps at the DFYFAMED site was in the fraction settling >200 m d−1; in effect the sediment trap can integrate the 234Th flux over distances 40-fold less than water column 234Th distributions. In some sense, sediment trap and water column sampling for 234Th provide complementary pictures of 234Th export. However, because the two methods can be dominated by different processes and are subject to different biases, their comparison must be treated with caution.  相似文献   

5.
Spring diatom blooms are important for sequestering atmospheric CO2 below the permanent thermocline in the form of particulate organic carbon (POC). We measured downward POC flux during a sub-polar North Atlantic spring bloom at 100 m using thorium-234 (234Th) disequilibria, and below 100 m using neutrally buoyant drifting sediment traps. The cruise followed a Lagrangian float, and a pronounced diatom bloom occurred in a 600 km2 area around the float. Particle flux was low during the first three weeks of the bloom, between 10 and 30 mg POC m−2 d−1. Then, nearly 20 days after the bloom had started, export as diagnosed from 234Th rose to 360-620 mg POC m−2 d−1, co-incident with silicate depletion in the surface mixed layer. Sediment traps at 600 and 750 m depth collected 160 and 150 mg POC m−2 d−1, with a settled volume of particles of 1000-1500 mL m−2 d−1. This implies that 25-43% of the 100 m POC export sank below 750 m. The sinking particles were ungrazed diatom aggregates that contained transparent exopolymer particles (TEP). We conclude that diatom blooms can lead to substantial particle export that is transferred efficiently through the mesopelagic. We also present an improved method of calibrating the Alcian Blue solution against Gum Xanthan for TEP measurements.  相似文献   

6.
Measurements of particle size-fractionated POC/234Th ratios and 234Th and POC fluxes were conducted using surface-tethered, free-floating, sediment traps and large-volume in-situ pumps during four cruises in 2004 and 2005 to the oligotrophic eastern Mediterranean Sea and the seasonally productive western Mediterranean and northwest Atlantic. Analysis of POC/234Th ratios in sediment trap material and 10, 20, 53, 70, and 100 μm size-fractionated particles indicate, for most stations, decreasing ratios with depth, a weak dependence on particle size, and ratios that converge to ～1–5 μmol dpm?1 below the euphotic zone (～100–150 m) throughout the contrasting biogeochemical regimes. In the oligotrophic waters of the Aegean Sea, 234Th and POC fluxes estimated using sediment traps were consistently higher than respective fluxes estimated from water-column 234Th–238U disequilibrium, observations that are attributed to terrigenous particle scavenging of 234Th. In the more productive western Mediterranean and northwest Atlantic, 234Th and POC fluxes measured by sediment trap and 234Th–238U disequilibrium agreed within a factor of 2–4 throughout the water column. An implication of these results is that estimates of POC export by sediment traps and 234Th–238U disequilibrium can be biased differently because of differential settling speeds of POC and 234Th-carrying particles.  相似文献   

7.
《Marine Chemistry》2002,80(1):11-26
Profiles of particulate and dissolved 234Th (t1/2=24.1 days) in seawater and particulate 234Th collected in drifting traps were analyzed in the Barents Sea at five stations during the ALV3 cruise (from June 28 to July 12, 1999) along a transect from 78°15′N–34°09′E to 73°49′N–31°43′E. 234Th/238U disequilibrium was observed at all locations. 234Th data measured in suspended and trapped particles were used to calibrate the catchment efficiency of the sediment traps. Model-derived 234Th fluxes were similar to 234Th fluxes measured in sediment traps based on a steady-state 234Th model. This suggests that the sediment traps were not subject to large trapping efficiency problems (collection efficiency ranges from 70% to 100% for four traps). The export flux of particulate organic carbon (POC) can be calculated from the model-derived export flux of 234Th and the POC/234Th ratio. POC/234Th ratios measured in suspended and trapped particles were very different (52.0±9.9 and 5.3±2.2 μmol dpm−1, respectively). The agreement between calculated and measured POC fluxes when the POC/234Th ratio of trapped particles was used confirms that the POC/234Th ratio in trap particles is representative of sinking particles. Large discrepancies were observed between calculated and measured POC fluxes when the POC/234Th ratio of suspended particles was used. In the Barents Sea, vertical POC fluxes are higher than POC fluxes estimated in the central Arctic Ocean and the Beaufort Sea and lower than those calculated in the Northeast Water Polynya and the Chukchi Sea. We suggest that the latter fluxes may have been strongly overestimated, because they were based on high POC/234Th ratios measured on suspended particles. It seems that POC fluxes cannot be reliably derived from thorium budgets without measuring the POC/234Th ratio of sediment trap material or of large filtered particles.  相似文献   

8.
To gain new insights into the variability of particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes and to better understand the factors controlling the POC/234Th ratios in suspended and sinking particulate matter, we investigated the relationships between POC/234Th ratios and biochemical composition (uronic acids, URA; total carbohydrates, TCHO; acid polysaccharides, APS; and POC) of suspended and sinking matter from the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 and 2006. Our data show that URA/POC in sediment traps (STs), APS/POC in the suspended particles, and turnover times of particulate 234Th in the water column and those of bacteria in STs inside eddies usually increased with depth, whereas particulate POC/234Th (10–50 μm) and the sediment-trap parameters (POC flux, POC/234Th ratio, bacterial biomass, and bacterial production) decreased with depth. However, this trend was not the case for most biological parameters (e.g., phytoplankton and bacterial biomass) or for the other parameters at the edges of eddies or at coastal-upwelling sites.In general, the following relationships were observed: 1) 234Th/POC ratios in STs were correlated with APS flux, and these ratios in the 10–50 μm suspended particles also correlated with URA/POC ratios; 2) neither URA fluxes nor URA/POC ratios were significantly related to bacterial biomass; 3) the sum of two uronic acids (G2, glucuronic, and galacturonic acid, which composed most of the URA pool) was positively related to bacterial biomass; and 4) the POC/234Th ratios in intermediate-sized particles (10–50 μm) were close to those in sinking particles but much lower than those in > 50 μm particles. The results indicate that acid polysaccharides, though a minor fraction (~ 1%) of the organic carbon, act more likely as proxy compound classes that might contain the more refractory 234Th-binding biopolymer, rather than acting as the original 234Th “scavenger” compound. Moreover, these acid polysaccharides, which might first be produced by phytoplankton and then modified by bacteria, also influence the on-and-off “piggy-back” processes of organic matter and 234Th, thus causing additional variability of the POC/234Th in particles of different sizes.  相似文献   

9.
The natural isotope 234Th is used in a small-scale survey of particle transport and exchange processes at the sediment–water interface in the Benguela upwelling area. Results from water and suspended particulate matter (SPM) samples from the uppermost and lowermost water column as well as the underlying sediment of three stations are compared. The stations are situated in different sedimentological environments at 1200–1350 m water depth at the continental slope off Namibia. Highly differing extent and particle content of the bottom nepheloid layer (BNL) are determined from transmissometer data. Three models are presented, all explaining the 234Th depletion of the BNL and 234Th excess of the surface sediment that were observed. While the first model is based solely on local resuspension of surface sediment particles, the second evaluates the influence of vertical particle settling from the surface waters on the 234Th budget in the BNL. The third model explains 234Th depletion in the BNL by sedimentation of particles that were suspended in the BNL during long-range transport. Particle inventory of the BNL is highest at a depocenter of organic matter at 25.5°S, where strong deposition is presently taking place and lateral particle transport is suggested to predominate sediment accumulation. This is supported by the high settling flux of particles out of the BNL into the sediments of the depocenter, exceeding the vertical particle flux into sediment traps at intermediate depth in the same area by up to an order of magnitude. High particle residence/removal times in the BNL above the depocenter in the range of 5–9 weeks support this interpretation. Comparison with carbon mineralization rates that are known from the area reveals that, notwithstanding the large fraction of advected particles, organic carbon flux into the surface sediment is remineralized to a large extent. The deployment of a bottom water sampler served as an in situ resuspension experiment and provided the first data of 234Th activity on in situ resuspended particles. We found a mean specific activity of 86 disintegrations per minute (dpm) g−1 (39–339 dpm g−1), intermediate between the high values for suspended particles (in situ pump: 580–760 dpm g−1; CTD rosette: 870–1560 dpm g−1) and the low values measured at the sediment surface (26–37 dpm g−1). This represents essential information for the modeling of 234Th exchange processes at the sediment–water interface.  相似文献   

10.
Recently it has been observed that a strong quantitative relationship exists between asymptotic fluxes of particulate organic carbon (POC) to the deep ocean and asymptotic fluxes of “ballast” minerals (opal; calcium carbonate; dust). It has further been suggested that this relationship might provide a mechanistic basis for improved representations of remineralization in ocean carbon models. Since the depth scale of remineralization z* is the ratio k/v of a remineralization rate k and a settling velocity (SV) v, a mechanistic understanding of settling velocities will be crucial in developing such models.Historically, there have been two approaches to estimating the speed with which POC is transported to the deep ocean. First, settling speeds of single particles have been observed directly in both field and laboratory settings; estimates of fecal pellet sinking velocities tend to be higher and more variable than those of aggregates. Second, estimates have been made of the velocity at which temporal patterns in flux propagate between pairs of sediment traps separated in depth (the “benchmark approach”); recent studies have shown these results to be variable and to depend on mineral ballasting. Here we present SV estimates using a relatively new technology: indented rotating sphere (IRS) sediment traps run in settling velocity (SV) mode. In this approach, particles are separated into SV classes during settling to collection cups. In MedFlux, SV data were collected concurrently with time-series (TS) data; the latter were used to construct benchmark estimates for comparison to the SV estimates. From the SV data, the range of modal settling velocities (sinking velocities having the largest time-averaged mass flux densities on a logarithmic scale of SV) in the fast-sinking fraction was estimated to be 287–503 m/d; the average of these modal values is 353 m/d, with standard deviation 76 m/d. In contrast, mean settling velocities of the fast-sinking fraction depend on the range of settling velocity classes included in the estimate. If only SV classes settling at >50 m/d are included, the range of SVs at MedFlux was 214–298 m/d, with average mean value 242 m/d and standard deviation 31 m/d. These mean-velocity results are in excellent agreement with benchmark estimates of signal propagation velocities at Medflux (220±65 m/d); they are also well within the range of other recent benchmark studies. The agreement between the benchmark estimates and mean settling velocity estimates at MedFlux, but not with modal velocities, argues that the benchmark method estimates mean settling velocities.  相似文献   

11.
An extensive 234Th data set was collected at two sites in the North Pacific: ALOHA, an oligotrophic site near Hawaii, and K2, a mesotrophic HNLC site in the NW Pacific as part of the VERTIGO (VERtical Transport In the Global Ocean) study. Total 234Th:238U activity ratios near 1.0 indicated low particle fluxes at ALOHA, while 234Th:238U ～0.6 in the euphotic zone at K2 indicated higher particle export. However, spatial variability was large at both sites—even greater than seasonal variability as reported in prior studies. This variability in space and time confounds the use of single profiles of 234Th for sediment trap calibration purposes. At K2, there was a decrease in export flux and increase in 234Th activities over time associated with the declining phase of a summer diatom bloom, which required the use of non-steady state models for flux predictions. This variability in space and time confounds the use of single profiles of 234Th for sediment trap calibration purposes. High vertical resolution profiles show narrow layers (20–30 m) of excess 234Th below the deep chlorophyll maximum at K2 associated with particle remineralization resulting in a decrease in flux at depth that may be missed with standard sampling for 234Th and/or with sediment traps. Also, the application of 234Th as POC flux tracer relies on accurate sampling of particulate POC/234Th ratios and here the ratio is similar on sinking particles and mid-sized particles collected by in-situ filtration (>10–50 μm at ALOHA and >5–350 μm at K2). To further address variability in particle fluxes at K2, a simple model of the drawdown of 234Th and nutrients is used to demonstrate that while coupled during export, their ratios in the water column will vary with time and depth after export. Overall these 234Th data provide a detailed view into particle flux and remineralization in the North Pacific over time and space scales that are varying over days to weeks, and 10's–100's km at a resolution that is difficult to obtain with other methods.  相似文献   

12.
Mass, carbon, and nitrogen fluxes and carbon and nitrogen compositions were determined for particulate samples from plankton net tows, shallow floating sediment traps, intermediate and deep moored sediment traps, and sediment cores collected along 140°W in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean during the US JGOFS EqPac program. Mass, particulate organic carbon (POC), and particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) fluxes measured by the floating sediment traps during the Survey I (El Niño) and Survey II (non-El Niño) cruises follow essentially the same pattern as primary production: high near the equator and decreasing poleward. POC fluxes caught in free-floating traps were compared with alternative estimates of export fluxes, including 234Th models, new production, and other sediment trap studies, resulting in widely differing estimates. Applying 234Th corrections to the trap-based fluxes yielded more consistent results relative to primary production and new production. Despite factors of five differences in measured fluxes between different trap types, POC : 234Th ratios of trap material were generally within a factor of two and provided a robust means of converting modeled 234Th export fluxes to POC export fluxes. All measured fluxes decrease with depth. Trap compositional data suggest that mineral “ballasting” may be a prerequisite for POC settling. POC remineralization is most pronounced in the epipelagic zone and at the sediment–water interface, with two orders of magnitude loss at each level. Despite seawater supersaturation with respect to calcium carbonate in the upper ocean, 80% of PIC is dissolved in the epipelagic zone. Given the time-scale differences of processes throughout the water column, the contrasting environments, and the fact that only 0.01% of primary production is buried, sedimentary organic carbon accumulation rates along the transect are remarkably well correlated to primary production in the overlying surface waters. POC to particulate total nitrogen (PTN) ratios for all samples are close to Redfield values, indicating that POC and PTN are non-selectively remineralized. This constancy is somewhat surprising given conventional wisdom and previous equatorial Pacific results suggesting that particulate nitrogen is lost preferentially to organic carbon.  相似文献   

13.
The activity of234Th (t 1/2=24.1 days) in dissolved, particulate and sediment trap samples was determined in the water column off southwestern Taiwan during 2–4 October, 1993. Vertical234Th fluxes measured by the free-floating sediment traps ranged from 363 to 2290 dpm m–2 d–1 in the upper 450 m. Th-234 fluxes predicted from the irreversible scavenging model concur with those measured by the sediment traps. Comparison of the residence times of particulate234Th and particulate organic carbon showed that their respective values differ by a factor of approximately 23, which suggests organic carbon is preferentially recycled relative to234Th in the euphotic zone.  相似文献   

14.
The transfer of material through the twilight zone of the ocean is controlled by sinking particles that contain organic matter (OM) and mineral ballast. During the MedFlux field program in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea in 2003, sinking particulate matter was collected in time series (TS) and settling velocity (SV) traps and analyzed for amino acids, lipids, and pigments (along with ballast minerals) [Lee, C., Armstrong, R.A., Wakeham, S.G., Peterson, M.L., Miquel, J.C., Cochran, J.K., Fowler, S.W., Hirschberg, D., Beck, A. Xue, J., 2009b. Particulate matter fluxes in time series and settling velocity sediment traps in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Deep-Sea Research II, this volume [doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.12.003]]. The goal was to identify how organic chemical compositions of sinking particles varied as a function of their in-situ settling velocity. The TS record was used to define the biogeochemical character and temporal pattern in flux during the period of SV trap deployment. Temporal variations in organic and mineral compositions are consistent with particle biogeochemistry being driven by the seasonal succession of phytoplankton. Spring diatom bloom conditions led to a high flux of rapidly sinking aggregates and zooplankton fecal matter; summer oligotrophy followed and was characterized by a higher proportion of slowly sinking phytoplankton cells. Bacterial degradation is particularly important during the low-flux summer period. Settling velocity traps show that a large proportion of particulate organic matter sinks at 200–500 m d−1. Organic compositions of this fast-sinking material mirrors that of fecal pellets and aggregated material that sinks as the spring bloom terminates. More-slowly sinking OM bears a stronger signature of bacterial degradation than do the faster-sinking particles. The observation that compositions of SV-sorted fractions are different implies that the particle field is compositionally heterogeneous over a range of settling velocities. Thus physical and biological exchange between fast-sinking and slow-sinking particles as they pass down the water column must be incomplete.  相似文献   

15.
We examined the impact of a cyclonic eddy and mode-water eddy on particle flux in the Sargasso Sea. The primary method used to quantify flux was based on measurements of the natural radionuclide, 234Th, and these flux estimates were compared to results from sediment traps in both eddies, and a 210Po/210Pb flux method in the mode-water eddy. Particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes at 150 m ranged 1–4 mmol C m−2 d−1 and were comparable between methods, especially considering differences in integration times scales of each approach. Our main conclusion is that relative to summer mean conditions at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site, eddy-driven changes in biogeochemistry did not enhance local POC fluxes during this later, more mature stage of the eddy life cycle (>6 months old). The absence of an enhancement in POC flux puts a constraint on the timing of higher POC flux events, which are thought to have caused the local O2 minima below each eddy, and must have taken place >2 months prior to our arrival. The mode-water eddy did enhance preferentially diatom biomass in its center, where we estimated a factor of three times higher biogenic Si flux than the BATS summer average. An unexpected finding in the highly depth-resolved 234Th data sets is narrow layers of particle export and remineralization within the eddy. In particular, a strong excess 234Th signal is seen below the deep chlorophyll maxima, which we attribute to remineralization of 234Th-bearing particles. At this depth below the euphotic zone, de novo particle production in the euphotic zone has stopped, yet particle remineralization continues via consumption of labile sinking material by bacteria and/or zooplankton. These data suggest that further study of processes in ocean layers is warranted not only within, but below the euphotic zone.  相似文献   

16.
Dissolved and particulate samples were collected to study the distribution of thorium isotopes (234Th, 232Th and 230Th) in the water column of the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean (from 42°S to 47°S and from 60°E to 66°E, north of the Polar Front) during Austral summer 1999. Vertical profiles of excess 230Th (230Thxs) increases linearly with depth in surface water (0–100 m) and a model was applied to estimate a residence time relative to the thorium scavenging (τscav). Low τscav in the Polar Front Zone (PFZ) are found, compared to those estimated in the Subtropical Front Zone (STZ). Changes in particle composition between the PFZ and STZ could influence the 230Thxs scavenging efficiency and explain this difference. An innovative coupling between 234Th and 230Thxs was then used to simultaneously constrain the settling velocities of small (0.6–60 μm) and large (above 60 μm) particles. Although the different hydrological and biogeochemical regimes visited during the ANTARES IV cruise did not explain the spatial variation of sinking velocity estimates, our results indicate that less particles may reach the seafloor north (60 ± 2 m d− 1, station 8) than south of the Agulhas Return Current (119 ± 23 and 130 ± 5 m d− 1 at stations 3 and 7, respectively). This information is essential for understanding particle transport and by extension, carbon export. In the deep water column, the 230Thxs concentrations did not increase linearly with depth, probably due to lateral transport of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) from the Atlantic to the Indian sector, which renews the deep waters and decreases the 230Thxs concentrations. A specific 230Thxs transport model is applied in the deep water column and allows us to assess a “travel time” of NADW ranging from 2 to 15 years.  相似文献   

17.
Export fluxes of particulate organic carbon (POC) were estimated from the 234Th/238U disequilibrium in the Ulleung Basin1 (UB) of the East/Japan Sea1 (EJS) over four seasons. The fluxes were calculated by multiplying the average POC/234Th ratio of sinking particles larger than 0.7 μm at 100- and 200-m water depths to 234Th fluxes by the integrated 234Th/238U disequilibrium from the surface to 100-m water depth. In spring, the 234Th profiles changed dramatically with sampling time, and hence a non-steady-state 234Th model was used to estimate the 234Th fluxes. The 234Th flux estimated from the non-steady-state model was an order of magnitude higher than that estimated from the steady-state model. The 234Th fluxes estimated using the steady-state model showed distinct seasonal variation, with high values in summer and winter and low values in autumn. In spring, the phytoplankton biomass had the highest value, and primary production was higher than in summer and autumn, but the 234Th fluxes were moderate. However, these values might have been significantly underestimated, as the 234Th fluxes were estimated using the steady-state model. The POC export fluxes estimated in autumn were about four times lower than those in other seasons when they were rather similar. The annually averaged POC flux was estimated to be 161 ± 76 mgC m−2 day−1, which was somewhat lower than that in highly productive coastal areas, and higher than that in oligotrophic regions. The export/primary production (ThE) ratios ranged from 7.0 to 56.1%, with higher values in spring and summer and lower values in autumn and winter. In summer, a high ThE ratio of 48.4 ± 7.0% was measured. This may be attributed to the mass diatom sinking event following nitrate depletion. In the UB1, the annually averaged ThE ratio was estimated to be 34.4 ± 12.9%, much higher than that in oligotrophic oceans. The high ThE ratio may have contributed to the high organic carbon accumulation in the UB1.  相似文献   

18.
Sabine Schmidt   《Marine Chemistry》2006,100(3-4):289
Over the last decade 234Th has become increasingly used to study particle transport in the ocean on a timescale of weeks. The application of 234Th is mainly focused on the determination of particle and associated carbon fluxes from oceanic surface water. However, 234Th is also suitable for investigating particle dynamic from the upper ocean down to interface sediments, as illustrated by the present work which reports unexpected behavior of 234Th in intermediate waters associated with the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). Concentration profiles of dissolved 238U and 228Ra, and dissolved and particulate 234Th and 228Th were measured in the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) near the Gibraltar Straits and at two sites (36°30′N–15°35′W, Nicole; 36°27′N–10°35′W, Yseult) which had hydrographic characteristics of Meddies, i.e. MOW that propagates as eddies in the Northeastern Atlantic at intermediate depths.There are marked differences in the distribution of thorium between MOW and the surrounding Atlantic waters. At the youngest Meddy Nicole salinity maximum at 1000 m depth, 234Th(total) : 238U and 228Th(total) : 228Ra activity ratios are significantly lower than radioactive equilibrium, indicating an unusual deficit of short half-life thorium nuclides. This implies an export of thorium, presumably on particles, from intermediate Meddy Nicole waters. This process is supported by an increase of particulate thorium fluxes measured in sediment traps deployed for two weeks above and within Meddy Nicole. In contrast, offshore Meddy Yseult has more typical profiles of both thorium nuclides that are nearly in equilibrium with their parents. These results indicate that at intermediate depths, the presence of MOW affects the exchange of reactive elements between particles and dissolved forms and enhances the downward flux of particles from intermediate waters in the Northeast Atlantic.  相似文献   

19.
The vertical sinking flux of particulate Al, Fe, Pb, and Ba from the upper 250 m of the Labrador Sea has been estimated from measurements of 234Th/238U disequilibrium and the respective metal/234Th ratios in >53 μm size particles. 234Th-derived particulate metal fluxes include in situ scavenged metals, labile lithogenic metals, and metals derived from external input (e.g., atmospheric supply). In contrast to the POC/234Th ratio, particle size-fractionated (0.4–10 μm, 10–53 μm, and >53 μm) Al/234Th, Fe/234Th and Pb/234Th, and Ba/234Th ratios generally increase with depth and exhibit no systematic change with particle diameter. Sinking fluxes of particulate Al (2.47–22.3 μmol m−2 d−1), Fe (2.69–16.3 μmol m−2 d−1), Pb (2.85–70 nmol m−2 d−1), and Ba (0.13–2.1 μmol m−2 d−1) at 50 m (base of the euphotic zone) and 100 m (base of the mixed layer) are largely within the range of previous sediment trap results from other ocean basins. Estimates of the upper ocean residence time of Al (0.07–0.28 yr) and Pb (0.8–2.9 yr) are short compared to previously reported values. The settling rate of >53 μm particles calculated from the 234Th data ranges from 14 to 38 m d−1.  相似文献   

20.
We determined the sensitivity of the calculated sinking flux of 234Th in the central equatorial Pacific to physical processes and scavenging mechanisms by imposing a meridional and vertical advection and diffusion field on a simple dissolved and particulate 234Th cycle. We used the model to estimate the efficiency with which the 234Th deficiency relative to 238U reflected the predicted sinking flux of 234Th on particles and compared our results with 234Th data taken during the JGOFS-EqPac 1992 Survey II Cruise. 234Th deficiencies near the equator were strongly affected by both vertical advection and horizontal diffusion. The model 234Th deficiency at the equator underestimated the model 234Th sinking flux by 144% in neglecting advection and diffusion in the presence of strong upwelling at the equator. The model 234Th deficiency at the equator corrected for advection overestimated the sinking flux of 234Th by 33% in neglecting horizontal diffusion. Analysis of the scavenging mechanism suggests that, during situations of export governed by rapidly sinking particles, 234Th-based estimates of particle export are only half as sensitive to advection compared to situations of export governed by slowly sinking particles. Given that results using the mechanism of slowly sinking particles compare better with the observed 234Th deficiency and calculated meridional 234Th fluxes at the equator than the mechanism of rapidly sinking particles, we consider the mechanism of slowly sinking particle more appropriate for this region. In agreement with previous studies based on observed 234Th gradients, this study supports the incorporation of vertical advection terms in the 234Th balance to estimate particulate carbon export at the equator but suggests that this method may have overestimated the sinking flux at the equator during EqPac Survey II by 0–63% due to the role of horizontal diffusion.  相似文献   

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