Redfield ratios of remineralization determined by nutrient data analysis

A nonlinear inverse method is applied to nutrient data upon approximately 20 neutral surfaces in each of the South Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific basins, between 400 and 4000 m depth. By accounting for the gradients in nutrients due to the mixing of [open quotes]preformed[close quotes] concentrations of the major water masses, the nutrient changes due to biological activity are examined, and the time-mean, basin-wide Redfield ratios calculated. It is found that the P/N/C[sub org]/[sup O][sub 2] ratios of nutrient regeneration between 400 and 4000 m (corrected for the effect of denitrification) are approximately constant with depth and basin, at a value of 1/16[+-]1/117[+-]14/170[+-]10. These ratios agree with those of fresh organic matter, suggesting that the flux of organic material to the deep ocean may be dominated by fast-sinking matter produced by sporadic, high-productivity events. Sedimentary denitrification reduces the N/P utilization ratio to 12 [+-] 2 between 1000 and 3000 m. In the Indian and Pacific basins the C[sub org]/C[sub inorg] regeneration ratio decreases from approximately 7 [+-] 13 at 400 m to 3 [+-] 1 at 1000 m and to 1 [+-] 0.5 at 4000 m, suggesting a significant amount of calcium carbonate dissolution above the calcite lysoclines in themore » Indian and Pacific oceans. 74 refs., 8 figs., 3 tabs.« less

[1]  R. Weiss,et al.  Ventilation of the Atlantic Ocean equatorial thermocline , 1993 .

[2]  D. Quadfasel,et al.  Circulation in the Timor Sea , 1993 .

[3]  G. Fischer,et al.  Seasonal patterns of vertical particle flux in equatorial and coastal upwelling areas of the eastern Atlantic , 1993 .

[4]  M. Tomczak,et al.  Thermocline circulation and ventilation in the Indian Ocean derived from water mass analysis , 1993 .

[5]  P. Boyd,et al.  Elevated consumption of carbon relative to nitrogen in the surface ocean , 1993, Nature.

[6]  N. Fisher,et al.  Degradation and elemental release rates from phytoplankton debris and their geochemical implications , 1992 .

[7]  P. M. Williams,et al.  Reconciling particulate organic carbon flux and sediment community oxygen consumption in the deep North Pacific , 1992, Nature.

[8]  John J. Walsh,et al.  Importance of continental margins in the marine biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nitrogen , 1991, Nature.

[9]  M. Silver,et al.  The “particle” flux: Origins and biological components , 1991 .

[10]  E. Laws,et al.  Photosynthetic quotients, new production and net community production in the open ocean , 1991 .

[11]  A. Devol Direct measurement of nitrogen gas fluxes from continental shelf sediments , 1991, Nature.

[12]  C. Reimers,et al.  Intensification of recycling of organic matter at the sea floor near ocean margins , 1990, Nature.

[13]  T. McDougall,et al.  Implications of the nonlinear equation of state for upwelling in the ocean interior , 1990 .

[14]  D. M. Nelson,et al.  The distribution of biogenic and lithogenic silica and the composition of particulate organic matter in the Scotia sea and the Drake passage during autumn 1987 , 1990 .

[15]  V. Fabry Shell growth rates of pteropod and heteropod molluscs and aragonite production in the open ocean: Implications for the marine carbonate system , 1990 .

[16]  J. Ridal,et al.  A re-examination of the measurement of dissolved organic phosphorus in seawater , 1990 .

[17]  V. Fabry Aragonite production by pteropod molluscs in the subarctic Pacific , 1989 .

[18]  V. Ittekkot,et al.  Increased particle flux to the deep ocean related to monsoons , 1989, Nature.

[19]  J. Minster,et al.  Oxygen consumption and nutrient regeneration ratios along isopycnal horizons in the Pacific Ocean , 1989 .

[20]  C. Turley,et al.  Bacteria and cyanobacteria associated with phytodetritus in the deep sea , 1988, Nature.

[21]  M. Silver,et al.  Primary production, sinking fluxes and the microbial food web , 1988 .

[22]  D. Karl,et al.  Downward flux of particulate organic matter in the ocean: a particle decomposition paradox , 1988, Nature.

[23]  Stuart G. Wakeham,et al.  Organic geochemistry of particulate matter in the eastern tropical North Pacific Ocean: Implications for particle dynamics , 1988 .

[24]  J. Minster,et al.  Redfield ratios along isopycnal surfaces—a complementary study , 1987 .

[25]  G. Jackson,et al.  Role of sea floor organisms in oxygen consumption in the deep North Pacific Ocean , 1987, Nature.

[26]  T. McDougall Neutral surfaces in the ocean: Implications for modelling , 1987 .

[27]  W. Broecker,et al.  C/P ratios in marine detritus , 1987 .

[28]  L. Codispoti,et al.  Denitrification in continental shelf sediments has major impact on the oceanic nitrogen budget , 1987 .

[29]  A. Alldredge,et al.  Can Microscale Chemical Patches Persist in the Sea? Microelectrode Study of Marine Snow, Fecal Pellets , 1987, Science.

[30]  David M. Karl,et al.  VERTEX: carbon cycling in the northeast Pacific , 1987 .

[31]  Michael L. Pace,et al.  Primary production, new production and vertical flux in the eastern Pacific Ocean , 1987, Nature.

[32]  P. Wiebe,et al.  Particulate matter distributions, chemistry and flux in the panama basin: response to environment forcing , 1986 .

[33]  W. Broenkow,et al.  VERTEX: the lateral transport of manganese in the northeast Pacific , 1985 .

[34]  Taro Takahashi,et al.  Sources and flow patterns of deep-ocean waters as deduced from potential temperature, salinity, and initial phosphate concentration , 1985 .

[35]  Taro Takahashi,et al.  Redfield ratio based on chemical data from isopycnal surfaces , 1985 .

[36]  M. Lyle,et al.  Flux comparisons between sediments and sediment traps in the eastern tropical Pacific: Implications for atmospheric C02 variations during the Pleistocene1 , 1985 .

[37]  J. H. Martin,et al.  Lateral transport of Mn in the north-east Pacific Gyre oxygen minimum , 1985, Nature.

[38]  David M. Karl,et al.  In situ effects of selected preservatives on total carbon, nitrogen and metals collected in sediment traps , 1984 .

[39]  J. H. Martin,et al.  Bacterial chemolithotrophy in the ocean is associated with sinking particles , 1984, Nature.

[40]  S. Fowler,et al.  Dissolved and fecal pellet carbon and nitrogen release by zooplankton in tropical waters , 1983 .

[41]  W. Gardner,et al.  Observations on the degradation of biogenic material in the deep ocean with implications on accuracy of sediment trap fluxes , 1983 .

[42]  S. Wakeham,et al.  Vertical flux of fatty acids in the North Atlantic Ocean , 1983 .

[43]  G. Copin-Montégut,et al.  Stoichiometry of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in marine particulate matter , 1983 .

[44]  W. Balzer,et al.  Fluxes of biogenic components from sediment trap deployment in circumpolar waters of the Drake Passage , 1982, Nature.

[45]  J. Cole,et al.  Sedimentation of biogenic matter in the deep ocean , 1982 .

[46]  A. Tarantola,et al.  Generalized Nonlinear Inverse Problems Solved Using the Least Squares Criterion (Paper 1R1855) , 1982 .

[47]  M. Bender,et al.  The marine phosphorus cycle , 1982 .

[48]  M. Bender,et al.  Carbon fluxes at the sediment-water interface of the deep-sea: calcium carbonate preservation. , 1981 .

[49]  John H. Martin,et al.  Primary production and carbon-nitrogen fluxes in the upper 1,500 m of the northeast Pacific1 , 1981 .

[50]  B. A. Skopintsev Chapter 6 Decomposition of Organic Matter of Plankton, Humif Ication and Hydrolysis , 1981 .

[51]  Kenneth W. Bruland,et al.  Fluxes of particulate carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the upper water column of the northeast Pacific , 1979 .

[52]  D. Ketten,et al.  The chemistry, biology, and vertical flux of particulate matter from the upper 400 m of the equatorial Atlantic Ocean , 1977 .

[53]  Wallace S. Broecker,et al.  “NO”, a conservative water-mass tracer , 1974 .

[54]  Timothy R. Parsons,et al.  Biological Oceanographic Processes , 1973 .

[55]  E. Corner,et al.  On the nutrition and metabolism of zooplankton. VIII. the grazing of Biddulphia cells by Calanus helgolandicus , 1972, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[56]  J. Ryther,et al.  THE COMPOSITION OF PARTICULATE ORGANIC MATTER IN THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC1 , 1964 .

[57]  Timothy R. Parsons,et al.  FURTHER MEASUREMENTS OF PRIMARY PRODUCTION USING A LARGE-VOLUME PLASTIC SPHERE , 1963 .

[58]  F. A. Richards,et al.  The influence of organisms on the composition of sea-water , 1963 .