Deep ocean nutrients imply large latitudinal variation in particle transfer efficiency

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1604414113
• Publication Date: 2016-07-26T02:58:50Z
• Authors: Thomas Weber; Jacob A. Cram; Shirley W. Leung; Timothy DeVries; Curtis Deutsch
• Keywords: Variation (astronomy); Particle (ecology)

Significance Organic particles that sink to the deep ocean release carbon dioxide in waters remain out of contact with atmosphere on long timescales. This paper reconstructs particle flux profiles from large-scale nutrient distributions, revealing systematic regional variations have proved difficult detect direct observations alone. We show “transfer efficiency” organic matter depth is greatest high-latitude regions and lowest subtropics, well explained by phytoplankton community structure. These results suggest a greater sensitivity atmospheric CO 2 export, predict reduced storage as subtropical communities expand response climate warming.