Biogenic and lithogenic particle fluxes in the western region of the Sea of Okhotsk: Implications for lateral material transport and biological productivity

Abstract

Sinking particles collected at two depths at two sites off Sakhalin Island in the western region of the Sea of Okhotsk were analyzed to determine their major chemical components (lithogenic material, biogenic opal, calcium carbonate (CaCO3), and total organic carbon (TOC)). The lithogenic and opal fluxes increased downward, indicating the lateral input of resuspended sedimentary particles into the lower traps, while the CaCO3 or TOC fluxes did not change greatly between the upper and lower traps. The lithogenic particle flux in the lower traps showed intermittent increase events frequently during periods when cold water masses penetrated into the intermediate layer at the mooring sites. This coincidence between the flux increase and the cooling of the intermediate layer clearly indicates that the cold and turbid Dense Shelf Water (DSW) is discharged from the bottom of the northwestern continental shelf to the pelagic intermediate layer, supplying large amounts of particulate matter onto the bottom of the slope and deep basin. After removing the effect of the lateral input, the time series of the opal export from the surface water at the mooring sites were reconstructed using the upper trap data. There were two predominant characteristics in the seasonal variations of the opal export, which is nearly equal to the diatom production, in the area off Sakhalin. One is the relatively large opal flux in autumn, and the other is the southward propagation of the spring diatom bloom, although the sea ice retreats northward every spring. Both of these characteristics suggest that the river water discharged from the Amur, together with the seasonal sea ice cover, regulates primary production in this area.