Skip to main content
Publications | Persons | Institutes | Projects
[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Short-term fate of phytodetritus in sediments across the Arabian Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone
Andersson, J.H.; Woulds, C.; Schwartz, M.; Cowie, G.L.; Levin, L.A.; Soetaert, K.; Middelburg, J.J. (2008). Short-term fate of phytodetritus in sediments across the Arabian Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone. Biogeosciences 5(1): 43-53

www.biogeosciences.net/5/43/2008/
In: Gattuso, J.P.; Kesselmeier, J. (Ed.) Biogeosciences. Copernicus Publications: Göttingen. ISSN 1726-4170; e-ISSN 1726-4189, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
    Detritus
    Fate
    Layers > Core layers (water) > Oxygen minimum layer
    ISW, Arabian Sea [Marine Regions]
    Marine/Coastal

Authors  Top 
  • Andersson, J.H., more
  • Woulds, C.
  • Schwartz, M.
  • Cowie, G.L.
  • Levin, L.A.
  • Soetaert, K., more
  • Middelburg, J.J., more

Abstract
    The short-term fate of phytodetritus was investigated across the Pakistan margin of the Arabian Sea at water depths ranging from 140 to 1850 m, encompassing the oxygen minimum zone (~100-1100 m). Phytodetritus sedimentation events were simulated by adding ~44 mmol 13C-labelled algal material per m² to surface sediments in retrieved cores. Cores were incubated in the dark, at in situ temperature and oxygen concentrations. Overlying waters were sampled periodically, and cores were recovered and sampled (for organisms and sediments) after durations of two and five days. The labelled carbon was subsequently traced into bacterial lipids, foraminiferan and macrofaunal biomass, and dissolved organic and inorganic pools. The majority of the label (20 to 100%) was in most cases left unprocessed in the sediment at the surface. The largest pool of processed carbon was found to be respiration (0 to 25% of added carbon), recovered as dissolved inorganic carbon. Both temperature and oxygen were found to influence the rate of respiration. Macrofaunal influence was most pronounced at the lower part of the oxygen minimum zone where it contributed 11% to the processing of phytodetritus.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors