Annual flux of dissolved organic carbon from the euphotic zone in the northwestern Sargasso Sea

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 371; no. 6496; pp. 405 - 408
• Main Authors: Carlson, Craig A, Ducklow, Hugh W, Michaels, Anthony F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing 29-09-1994; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon cycle; Dissolved organic carbon; Earth, ocean, space; Euphotic zone; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Marine; Oceanography; Organic chemistry; Physical and chemical properties of sea water; Physics of the oceans; Sargasso Sea; ANW, Sargasso Sea; Carbon cycle; Organic carbon; Primary productivity; Material flow; Seasonal variation; Surface layer; Material balance; Remineralization
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/371405a0

Measurements of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) off Bermuda in the Sargasso Sea, which provide strong support for the idea that this component of oceanic carbon is also an important and dynamic part of the ocean carbon cycle, are examined. The DOC that escapes remineralization in the summer and autumn is exported from the surface ocean the following winter. This export is estimated to be equal to or greater than the measured particle flux.