Wakeham, S.G., Lee, C., Armstrong, R.A., and Cochran, J.K. 2005. The flux of particulate material in the ocean and new insight into the mechanisms that drive it.

Abstract: Particulate (organic and inorganic) matter (PM) produced in surface waters of the ocean is extensively degraded in the water column, largely in the Twilight Zone, with only a fraction reaching the sea floor to be preserved in the sediments. Yet this sediment record provides the basis by which past oceanic conditions and global climate may be inferred, and it is therefore critical to understand the fate of PM. Our analysis of JGOFS data shows that particulate organic carbon (POC) flux correlates with and may be predicted from the flux of mineral material (opal, carbonates, and dust). This implies that there must be strong physical relationships between organic matter and mineral ballast and between degradation of organic matter and dissolution of mineral material. The sinking dynamics of particulate matter through the water column depend on the relative ratios of low density organic matter and higher density mineral ballast and on the mechanisms controlling the behavior of these two phases as they control particle integrity. Our recent work has involved developing novel sampling and multitracer approaches to begin to characterize the in-situ sinking and degradation/dissolution behavior of PM.