Polysaccharide aggregation as a potential sink of marine dissolved organic carbon

Anja Engel (), Silke Thoms (), Ulf Riebesell, Emma Rochelle-Newall and Ingrid Zondervan
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Anja Engel: Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Silke Thoms: Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Ulf Riebesell: Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Emma Rochelle-Newall: Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche sur Mer, Station Zoologique
Ingrid Zondervan: Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung

Nature, 2004, vol. 428, issue 6986, 929-932

Abstract: Abstract The formation and sinking of biogenic particles mediate vertical mass fluxes and drive elemental cycling in the ocean1. Whereas marine sciences have focused primarily on particle production by phytoplankton growth, particle formation by the assembly of organic macromolecules has almost been neglected2,3. Here we show, by means of a combined experimental and modelling study, that the formation of polysaccharide particles is an important pathway to convert dissolved into particulate organic carbon during phytoplankton blooms, and can be described in terms of aggregation kinetics. Our findings suggest that aggregation processes in the ocean cascade from the molecular scale up to the size of fast-settling particles, and give new insights into the cycling and export of biogeochemical key elements such as carbon, iron and thorium.

Date: 2004
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DOI: 10.1038/nature02453

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