A comparison of sediment trap records of particle fluxes from 19 to 48°N in the northeast Atlantic and their relation to surface water productivity

Abstract

Sediment trap data from four sites in the northeast Atlantic (48°N 20°W, 28°N 22°W, 24°N 23°W, 19°N 20°W) are presented for fluxes of total mass, organic matter, calcium carbonate, opal and lithogenous material. The results from these sites are compared with other published sediment trap data from this area to consider regional scale variations in the quantity and composition of settling ocean particulate matter along a transect at 20°W from 48°N to 19°N. There are clearly gradients of decreasing mass flux going south from 48°N which reverse around 25–30°N to increase again toward the North Africa upwelling regime. Flux seasonality is greater at the more northern sites. Opal fluxes are high at the more northern sites and the flux of lithogenic material is greater further south. Plankton species composition also changes along the transect. The changes in the mass and composition of sedimenting material along the transect are consistent with known changes in surface water plankton abundance and with fluxes inferred from sediment core results. Carbon fluxes measured by sediment traps and inferred from sediment core data in this area appear to be consistent with one another. These results provide increased confidence in the use of various ocean flux measurement techniques to derive estimates of ocean carbon cycling.