Assessment of the spatial variability in particulate organic matter and mineral sinking fluxes in the ocean interior: Implications for the ballast hypothesis

Wilson, Jamie D., Barker, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7870-6431 and Ridgwell, A. 2012. Assessment of the spatial variability in particulate organic matter and mineral sinking fluxes in the ocean interior: Implications for the ballast hypothesis. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 26 (4) , GB4011. 10.1029/2012GB004398

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Abstract

Multiple linear regression analysis (MLRA) applied to sediment trap data has been highly influential in identifying a plausible ‘ballasting’ mechanism that directly links the settling fluxes of particulate organic carbon (POC) to those of denser, inorganic minerals. However, analysis to date has primarily been carried out at the global scale, missing spatial variability in the flux relationships that may be important. In this paper, Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) is applied to an updated deep (>1500 m) sediment trap database (n = 156), using the MLRA approach of Klaas and Archer (2002) but now allowing the carrying coefficients to vary in space. While the global mean carrying coefficient values for CaCO3, opal, and lithogenics are broadly consistent with previous work, the GWR analysis reveals the existence of substantial and statistically significant spatial variability in all three carrying coefficients. In particular, the absence of a strong globally uniform relationship between CaCO3 and POC in our spatial analysis calls into question whether a simple ballasting mechanism exists. Instead, the existence of coherent spatial patterns in carrying coefficients, which are reminiscent of biogeochemical provinces, points toward differences in specific pelagic ecosystem characteristics as being the likely underlying cause of the flux relationships sampled by sediment traps. Our findings present a challenge to ocean carbon cycle modelers who to date have applied a single statistical global relationship in their carbon flux parameterizations when considering mineral ballasting, and provide a further clue as to how the efficiency of the biological pump in the modern ocean is regulated.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GC Oceanography
Uncontrolled Keywords:	POC flux; ballast hypothesis; geographically weighted regression; organic carbon export
Additional Information:	Pdf uploaded in accordance with publisher's policy at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/1944-9186/ (accessed 20/02/2014).
Publisher:	American Geophysical Union
ISSN:	0886-6236
Funders:	NERC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	17 May 2023 01:08
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/40010

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