Small sinking particles control anammox rates in the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone

Clarissa Karthäuser, Soeren Ahmerkamp (), Hannah K. Marchant (), Laura A. Bristow, Helena Hauss, Morten H. Iversen, Rainer Kiko, Joeran Maerz, Gaute Lavik and Marcel M. M. Kuypers
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Clarissa Karthäuser: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Soeren Ahmerkamp: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Hannah K. Marchant: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Laura A. Bristow: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Helena Hauss: GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel
Morten H. Iversen: MARUM—Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen
Rainer Kiko: GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel
Joeran Maerz: Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
Gaute Lavik: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Marcel M. M. Kuypers: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Anaerobic oxidation of ammonium (anammox) in oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) is a major pathway of oceanic nitrogen loss. Ammonium released from sinking particles has been suggested to fuel this process. During cruises to the Peruvian OMZ in April–June 2017 we found that anammox rates are strongly correlated with the volume of small particles (128–512 µm), even though anammox bacteria were not directly associated with particles. This suggests that the relationship between anammox rates and particles is related to the ammonium released from particles by remineralization. To investigate this, ammonium release from particles was modelled and theoretical encounters of free-living anammox bacteria with ammonium in the particle boundary layer were calculated. These results indicated that small sinking particles could be responsible for ~75% of ammonium release in anoxic waters and that free-living anammox bacteria frequently encounter ammonium in the vicinity of smaller particles. This indicates a so far underestimated role of abundant, slow-sinking small particles in controlling oceanic nutrient budgets, and furthermore implies that observations of the volume of small particles could be used to estimate N-loss across large areas.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23340-4

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