Characterization, Sources and Sinks of Colored Detrital Matter in the Ocean
Abstract
The objectives of the award were to: (a) characterize the chromophores of different classes of detrital matter, i.e., fresh and partially degraded fecal matter, resuspended sediments, particulate matter from below the euphotic zone and living organisms devoid of phytoplankton-derived pigments, (b) search for specific chromophores that uniquely identify the different classes of detrital matter such that these marker-chromophores can be used to identify contributions of different classes of detrital matter to CDetM in the upper ocean and (c) develop methods for the routine analysis and characterization of CDetM. We analyzed fecal matter and sediments from a range of sources and found great similarity between the pigment complements of these. We discovered that cyclic pheophorbides, produced by grazers when these ingest algae, are a major fraction of total chlorins in the marine environment. Surprisingly, we found high concentrations of chlorins derived from divinyl-chlorophyll a, the pigment characteristic of the picoautotroph Prochlorococcus, in sediments. This result suggests that picoautotrophs may contribute significantly to export production in some areas of the world's oceans.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 29, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA392260
Entities
People
- Ralf Goericke
Organizations
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography