Abstract
AbstractThe particle size distribution (PSD) is a fundamental property that influences all aspects of phytoplankton ecology. In particular, the size (e.g., diameter d [μm]) and sinking speed w (m/day) of individual particles are inextricable, but much remains unknown about how d and w are related quantitatively for bulk particulate matter. There is significant interest in inferring sinking mass fluxes from PSDs, but doing so requires knowing how both mass and w scale with d. To this end, using both laser diffraction and imaging, we characterized for the first time both sinking and suspended PSDs in the oligotrophic North Pacific subtropical gyre. Comparing these PSDs via a power law parameterization indicates an approximately linear w‐to‐d scaling, suggesting particles are more fractal‐like than sphere‐like in this respect. This result is robust across multiple instruments, depths, and sediment trap deployments and is made comparatively precise by a high degree of replication.
Highlights
Among the many ecosystem services provided by the global ocean, sequestration of organic matter via the biological pump is one of the most critical to setting the elemental composition of the coupled ocean‐atmosphere system
particle size distribution (PSD) in the ocean are most commonly approximated by a power law distribution of the form n(d)∝d−ξ, and in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG), this approximation has been shown to be statistically sound (Barone et al, 2015, Figure 1 and Table 2; White et al, 2015, Figures 1a and 1b) as we found here; see Andrews et al (2011), Buonassissi and Dierssen (2010), Kostadinov et al (2012), and Reynolds et al (2010)
Before describing our main results, it is useful to note that the data we collected are consistent with historical data for both sinking and suspended material at Station ALOHA
Summary
Among the many ecosystem services provided by the global ocean, sequestration of organic matter via the biological pump is one of the most critical to setting the elemental composition of the coupled ocean‐atmosphere system Understanding this complex process has been a central focus in biological and chemical oceanography since the 1970s (Berger, 1971; Honjo et al, 1980), when coordinated efforts were begun to characterize the time‐varying vertical flux of mass and elements from the surface to the deep sea. Size is a key determinant of the interaction between particles and their fluid environment, making size (here we define this in terms of diameter d [m]) and sinking speed inextricable (Smayda, 1970) This suggests a fundamental connection between the distribution of w and the particle size distribution (PSD)—itself the object of intense study in marine ecology and biogeochemistry, CAEL AND WHITE
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