_version_ 1867168555492966400
author Sauter, Eberhard-Jürgen
Schlüter, Michael
Suess, Erwin
author_facet Sauter, Eberhard-Jürgen
Schlüter, Michael
Suess, Erwin
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents Organic carbon fluxes through the sediment/water interface in the high-latitude North Atlantic were calculated from oxygen microprofiles. A wire-operated in situ oxygen bottom profiler was deployed, and oxygen profiles were also measured onboard (ex situ). Diffusive oxygen fluxes, obtained by fitting exponential functions to the oxygen profiles, were translated into organic carbon fluxes and organic carbon degradation rates. The mean Corg input to the abyssal plain sediments of the Norwegian and Greenland Seas was found to be 1.9 mg C/m**2/d. Typical values at the seasonally ice-covered East Greenland continental margin are between 1.3 and 10.9 mg C/m**2/d (mean 3.7 mg C/m**2/d), whereas fluxes on the East Greenland shelf are considerably higher, 9.1-22.5 mg C/m**2/d. On the Norwegian continental slope Corg fluxes of 3.3-13.9 mg C/m**2/d (mean 6.5 mg C/m**2/d) were found. Fluxes are considerably higher here compared to stations on the East Greenland slope at similar water depths. By repeated occupation of three sites off southern Norway in 1997 the temporal variability of diffusive O2 fluxes was found to be quite low. The seasonal signal of primary and export production from the upper water column appears to be strongly damped at the seafloor. Degradation rates of 0.004-1.1 mg C/cm**3/a at the sediment surface were calculated from the oxygen profiles. First-order degradation constants, obtained from Corg degradation rates and sediment organic carbon content, are in the range 0.03-0.6/a. Thus, the corresponding mean lifetime of organic carbon lies between 1.7 and 33.2 years, which also suggests that seasonal variations in Corg flux are small. The data presented here characterize the Norwegian and Greenland Seas as oligotrophic and relatively low organic carbon deep-sea environments.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_738701
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2001
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Organic carbon flux and remineralization in surface sediments
Sauter, Eberhard-Jürgen
Schlüter, Michael
Suess, Erwin
12; 13; 14; 16; 20; 25; 26; 30; ARK-X/1; ARK-XI/2; ARK-XIII/1b; Giant box corer; GKG; Global Environmental Change: The Northern North Atlantic; M36/3; M36/3_201; M36/3_246-2; M36/3_249-2; Meteor (1986); MOOR; Mooring; MUC; MULT; MultiCorer; Multiple investigations; North Greenland Sea; Norwegian continental margin; O2PRO; Oxygen profiler; Polarstern; PS31; PS31/007-4; PS31/014-13; PS31/017-8; PS31/089-5; PS31/092-1; PS37; PS37/012; PS37/013; PS37/014; PS37/016; PS37/020; PS37/025; PS37/026; PS37/030; PS44; PS44/022-4; PS44/023-5; SFB313; SVT12; SVT14; SVT15; SVT8; Voering Plateau; VP6
Organic carbon fluxes through the sediment/water interface in the high-latitude North Atlantic were calculated from oxygen microprofiles. A wire-operated in situ oxygen bottom profiler was deployed, and oxygen profiles were also measured onboard (ex situ). Diffusive oxygen fluxes, obtained by fitting exponential functions to the oxygen profiles, were translated into organic carbon fluxes and organic carbon degradation rates. The mean Corg input to the abyssal plain sediments of the Norwegian and Greenland Seas was found to be 1.9 mg C/m**2/d. Typical values at the seasonally ice-covered East Greenland continental margin are between 1.3 and 10.9 mg C/m**2/d (mean 3.7 mg C/m**2/d), whereas fluxes on the East Greenland shelf are considerably higher, 9.1-22.5 mg C/m**2/d. On the Norwegian continental slope Corg fluxes of 3.3-13.9 mg C/m**2/d (mean 6.5 mg C/m**2/d) were found. Fluxes are considerably higher here compared to stations on the East Greenland slope at similar water depths. By repeated occupation of three sites off southern Norway in 1997 the temporal variability of diffusive O2 fluxes was found to be quite low. The seasonal signal of primary and export production from the upper water column appears to be strongly damped at the seafloor. Degradation rates of 0.004-1.1 mg C/cm**3/a at the sediment surface were calculated from the oxygen profiles. First-order degradation constants, obtained from Corg degradation rates and sediment organic carbon content, are in the range 0.03-0.6/a. Thus, the corresponding mean lifetime of organic carbon lies between 1.7 and 33.2 years, which also suggests that seasonal variations in Corg flux are small. The data presented here characterize the Norwegian and Greenland Seas as oligotrophic and relatively low organic carbon deep-sea environments.
title Organic carbon flux and remineralization in surface sediments
topic 12; 13; 14; 16; 20; 25; 26; 30; ARK-X/1; ARK-XI/2; ARK-XIII/1b; Giant box corer; GKG; Global Environmental Change: The Northern North Atlantic; M36/3; M36/3_201; M36/3_246-2; M36/3_249-2; Meteor (1986); MOOR; Mooring; MUC; MULT; MultiCorer; Multiple investigations; North Greenland Sea; Norwegian continental margin; O2PRO; Oxygen profiler; Polarstern; PS31; PS31/007-4; PS31/014-13; PS31/017-8; PS31/089-5; PS31/092-1; PS37; PS37/012; PS37/013; PS37/014; PS37/016; PS37/020; PS37/025; PS37/026; PS37/030; PS44; PS44/022-4; PS44/023-5; SFB313; SVT12; SVT14; SVT15; SVT8; Voering Plateau; VP6
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.738701