Seasonal and vertical variations of sinking particle fluxes in the West Caroline Basin

Abstract

A sediment trap experiment was carried out in the West Caroline Basin, located in the equatorial western Pacific between influences of the Asian monsoon and the open ocean. Annual mass flux at the shallow trap at Site 1 was 57.10 g m -2 yr -1. Generally, the higher flux of organic matter was associated with higher activities of biogenic opal-producing and carbonate-producing plankton communities. In addition, as the organic matter content increases, the organic carbon/carbonate carbon ratio shows a tendency to increase. Carbonate-producing plankton was predominant during periods 1 and 3 (May to July and November to the beginning of December), which could be due to limited silica supply to the euphotic zone. On the other hand, surface sea water was more nutrient-rich during periods 2 and 4 (August to October and the end of December to April) at Site 1. These high total mass fluxes could be stimulated by wind. The amount of biogenic components collected in the sediment traps and the accumulation in surface sediments at Site 1 could be compared with primary productivity values. Carbonate and biogenic opal fluxes were 99% and 90% less, respectively, in the surface sediments compared to those in the shallow sediment trap. This could be due to the reaction of sinking particles with undersaturated deep sea water just above the sea floor, rather than with the water column during sinking. About 20% of the organic matter was decomposed between the shallow and deep sediment traps and more than 98% between the deep sediment trap and final burial in the surface sediments. The relative amount of organic carbon preserved in surface sediments was about 0.10% of annual primary productivity.