Articles | Volume 16, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1673-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1673-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Introduction: OUTPACE – Oligotrophy to Ultraoligotrophy PACific Experiment
Thierry Moutin
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Université de Toulon, IRD, OSU Pythéas, UM 110, 13288, Marseille, France
Related authors
Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Yannis Cuypers, Andrea Doglioli, Mathieu Caffin, Christophe Yohia, Alain de Verneil, Anne Petrenko, Dominique Lefèvre, Hervé Le Goff, Gilles Rougier, Marc Picheral, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 15, 7485–7504, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7485-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7485-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The OUTPACE cruise took place between New Caledonia and French Polynesia. The main purpose was to understand how micro-organisms can survive in a very poor environment. One main source of nutrients is at depth, below the euphotic layer where micro-organisms live. The purpose of the turbulence measurements was to determine to which extent turbulence may
upliftnutrients into the euphotic layer. The origin of the turbulence that was found contrasted along the transect was also determined.
Audrey Gimenez, Melika Baklouti, Thibaut Wagener, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 15, 6573–6589, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6573-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6573-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
During the OUTPACE cruise conducted in the oligotrophic to ultra-oligotrophic region of the western tropical South Pacific, two contrasted regions were sampled in terms of N2 fixation rates, primary production rates and nutrient availability. The aim of this work was to investigate the role of N2 fixation in the differences observed between the two contrasted areas by comparing two simulations only differing by the presence or not of N2 fixers using a 1-D biogeochemical–physical coupled model.
Thibaut Wagener, Nicolas Metzl, Mathieu Caffin, Jonathan Fin, Sandra Helias Nunige, Dominique Lefevre, Claire Lo Monaco, Gilles Rougier, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 15, 5221–5236, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5221-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5221-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The western tropical South Pacific was sampled along a longitudinal 4000 km transect (OUTPACE cruise) for the measurement of carbonate parameters (total alkalinity and total inorganic carbon) between the Melanesian Archipelago and the western part of the South Pacific gyre. This paper reports this new dataset and derived properties. We also estimate anthropogenic carbon distribution in the water column using the TrOCA method.
Thierry Moutin, Thibaut Wagener, Mathieu Caffin, Alain Fumenia, Audrey Gimenez, Melika Baklouti, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Mireille Pujo-Pay, Karine Leblanc, Dominique Lefevre, Sandra Helias Nunige, Nathalie Leblond, Olivier Grosso, and Alain de Verneil
Biogeosciences, 15, 2961–2989, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2961-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2961-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Surface waters of the western tropical South Pacific were sampled along a longitudinal 4000 km transect during the stratified period between the Melanesian Archipelago and the western part of the South Pacific gyre. We found a significant biological carbon pump sustained almost exclusively by N2 fixation and essentially controlled by phosphate availability in the iron-rich Melanesian Archipelago waters which appears to be a net sink for atmospheric CO2 while the gyre is in a quasi-steady state.
France Van Wambeke, Audrey Gimenez, Solange Duhamel, Cécile Dupouy, Dominique Lefevre, Mireille Pujo-Pay, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 15, 2669–2689, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2669-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2669-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The western tropical South Pacific Ocean has recently been shown to be a hotspot for biological nitrogen fixation. In this study, we examined the horizontal and vertical distribution of heterotrophic prokaryotic production alongside photosynthetic rates, nitrogen fixation rates and phosphate turnover times across the western tropical South Pacific Ocean, in order to relate these fluxes to bottom–up controls (related to nitrogen, phosphate and labile C availability).
Angela N. Knapp, Kelly M. McCabe, Olivier Grosso, Nathalie Leblond, Thierry Moutin, and Sophie Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 15, 2619–2628, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2619-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2619-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The spatial distribution of biological N2 fixation fluxes to the ocean remains poorly constrained. Here we use nitrogen isotope budgets to identify significant N2 fixation inputs to the western tropical South Pacific (WTSP), where N2 fixation supports > 50 % of export production at stations proximal to iron sources. The significant N2 fixation inputs in the WTSP may offset nitrogen loss in the oxygen-deficient zones of the eastern tropical South Pacific.
Mathieu Caffin, Thierry Moutin, Rachel Ann Foster, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Andrea Michelangelo Doglioli, Hugo Berthelot, Cécile Guieu, Olivier Grosso, Sandra Helias-Nunige, Nathalie Leblond, Audrey Gimenez, Anne Alexandra Petrenko, Alain de Verneil, and Sophie Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 15, 2565–2585, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2565-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2565-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We performed N budgets to assess the role of N2 fixation on production and export in the western tropical South Pacific Ocean. We deployed a combination of techniques including high-sensitivity measurements of N input and sediment traps deployment. We demonstrated that N2 fixation was the major source of new N before atmospheric deposition and upward nitrate fluxes. It contributed significantly to organic matter export, indicating a high efficiency of this region to export carbon.
Alain de Verneil, Louise Rousselet, Andrea M. Doglioli, Anne A. Petrenko, Christophe Maes, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 15, 2125–2147, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2125-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2125-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Oceanographic campaigns to measure biogeochemical processes popularly deploy drifters with onboard incubations to stay in a single body of water. Here, we aggregate physical data taken during such a cruise, OUTPACE, to independently test in a new approach whether the drifter really stayed in what can be considered a single biological or chemical environment. This study concludes that future campaigns would benefit from similar data collection and analysis to validate their sampling strategy.
Alain Fumenia, Thierry Moutin, Sophie Bonnet, Mar Benavides, Anne Petrenko, Sandra Helias Nunige, and Christophe Maes
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2017-557, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2017-557, 2018
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
The Melanesian archipelago waters between 160° E and 170° W are characterized by a significant N2 fixation rates and an excess of particulate organic nitrogen compared to the canonical ratio of Redfield and a positive N*. We hypothesize that the southern branch of the subtropical gyre is probably the main vector of excess nitrogen transport in the thermocline waters showing an influence of nitrogen fixation occurring in the western tropical in a large part of the South Pacific.
Alain de Verneil, Louise Rousselet, Andrea M. Doglioli, Anne A. Petrenko, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 14, 3471–3486, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3471-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3471-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
A surface summer plankton bloom in the western tropical South Pacific was sampled during the Oligotrophy to UlTra-oligotrophy PACific Experiment (OUTPACE) cruise. We characterize the bloom's properties and the circulation responsible for its evolution. Nitrogen fixation helped sustain the bloom, and larger-scale flows, rather than the smaller ones, explain its movements. Future studies of blooms in this region can make use of these findings to track the horizontal export of plankton production.
Thierry Moutin, Andrea Michelangelo Doglioli, Alain de Verneil, and Sophie Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 14, 3207–3220, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3207-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3207-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The overall goal of OUTPACE was to obtain a successful representation of the interactions between planktonic organisms and the cycle of biogenic elements in the western tropical South Pacific Ocean across trophic and N2 fixation gradients. The international OUTPACE cruise took place between 18 February and 3 April 2015 aboard the RV L’Atalante and involved 60 scientists. The transect covered ~4 000 km from the western part of the Melanesian archipelago to the western boundary of the gyre.
Audrey Gimenez, Melika Baklouti, Sophie Bonnet, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 13, 5103–5120, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5103-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5103-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
In the context of the VAHINE mesocosm experiment in the Nouméa lagoon (New Caledonia), a 1-D vertical biogeochemical mechanistic model was used together with the in situ experiment to complement our comprehension of the planktonic ecosystem dynamics and the main biogeochemical carbon, nitrogen and phosphate fluxes. The model also showed the fate of fixed N2 by providing, over time, the proportion of diazotroph-derived nitrogen (DDN) in each compartment (mineral and organic) of the model.
Angela N. Knapp, Sarah E. Fawcett, Alfredo Martínez-Garcia, Nathalie Leblond, Thierry Moutin, and Sophie Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 13, 4645–4657, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-4645-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-4645-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The goal of this manuscript was to track the fate of newly fixed nitrogen (N) in large volume mesocosms in the coastal waters of New Caledonia. We used a N isotope ("δ15N") budget and found a shift in the δ15N of sinking particulate N over the 23-day experiment, indicating that nitrate supported export production at the beginning of the experiment, but that nitrogen fixation supported export at the end. We infer that nitrogen fixation supported export production by a release of dissolved N.
Ilana Berman-Frank, Dina Spungin, Eyal Rahav, France Van Wambeke, Kendra Turk-Kubo, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 13, 3793–3805, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3793-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3793-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
In the marine environment, sticky sugar-containing gels, termed transparent exopolymeric particles (TEP), are produced from biological sources and physical and chemical processes. These compounds are essential vectors enhancing downward flow of organic matter and its storage at depth. Spatial and temporal dynamics of TEPs were followed for 23 days during the VAHINE mesocosm experiment that investigated the fate of nitrogen and carbon derived from organisms fixing atmospheric N2 (diazotrophs).
France Van Wambeke, Ulrike Pfreundt, Aude Barani, Hugo Berthelot, Thierry Moutin, Martine Rodier, Wolfgang R. Hess, and Sophie Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 13, 3187–3202, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3187-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3187-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The phytoplankton is at the base of the plankton food web in large parts of oceanic "deserts" such as the South Pacific Ocean, where nitrogen sources limit activity. Mesocosms were fertilized with phosphorus to stimulate diazotrophy (atmospheric N2 fixation). Mostly diazotroph-derived nitrogen fuelled the heterotrophic bacterial community through indirect processes generating dissolved organic matter and detritus, such as mortality, lysis and grazing of both diazotrophs and non-diazotrophs.
Sophie Bonnet, Thierry Moutin, Martine Rodier, Jean-Michel Grisoni, Francis Louis, Eric Folcher, Bertrand Bourgeois, Jean-Michel Boré, and Armelle Renaud
Biogeosciences, 13, 2803–2814, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2803-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2803-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
e main goal of the VAHINE project was to study the fate of N2 fixation in the ocean. Three large-volume (~ 50 m3) mesocosms were deployed in a tropical oligotrophic ecosystem (the New Caledonia lagoon, south-eastern Pacific). This introductory paper describes the scientific objectives of the project in detail as well as the implementation plan: the mesocosm description and deployment, the selection of the study site, and the logistical and sampling strategy.
A. Guyennon, M. Baklouti, F. Diaz, J. Palmieri, J. Beuvier, C. Lebaupin-Brossier, T. Arsouze, K. Béranger, J.-C. Dutay, and T. Moutin
Biogeosciences, 12, 7025–7046, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7025-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7025-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) has already been identified as a potentially significant source of carbon export in the Mediterranean Sea, though in situ export estimations are scarce. This work provides a thorough analysis at basin scale of carbon export with the coupled model NEMO-MED12/Eco3M-MED model. The seasonality and the processes of particulate and dissolved carbon production are also investigated. DOC export appears to be dominant in most regions, especially in the eastern basin.
H. Berthelot, T. Moutin, S. L'Helguen, K. Leblanc, S. Hélias, O. Grosso, N. Leblond, B. Charrière, and S. Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 12, 4099–4112, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4099-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4099-2015, 2015
A. Talarmin, F. Van Wambeke, P. Lebaron, and T. Moutin
Biogeosciences, 12, 1237–1247, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1237-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1237-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Along a transect in the warm nutrient-depleted Mediterranean Sea, we found that microorganisms shared phosphate resources by using different uptake strategies. Heterotrophic prokaryotes dominated phosphate uptake in the upper layers while cyanobacteria dominated uptake fluxes around the deep chlorophyll maximum depth. Synechococcus seemed well equipped to respond to pulses of phosphate, whereas Prochlorococcus and heterotrophs were more adapted to very low concentrations.
Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Yannis Cuypers, Andrea Doglioli, Mathieu Caffin, Christophe Yohia, Alain de Verneil, Anne Petrenko, Dominique Lefèvre, Hervé Le Goff, Gilles Rougier, Marc Picheral, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 15, 7485–7504, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7485-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7485-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The OUTPACE cruise took place between New Caledonia and French Polynesia. The main purpose was to understand how micro-organisms can survive in a very poor environment. One main source of nutrients is at depth, below the euphotic layer where micro-organisms live. The purpose of the turbulence measurements was to determine to which extent turbulence may
upliftnutrients into the euphotic layer. The origin of the turbulence that was found contrasted along the transect was also determined.
Audrey Gimenez, Melika Baklouti, Thibaut Wagener, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 15, 6573–6589, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6573-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6573-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
During the OUTPACE cruise conducted in the oligotrophic to ultra-oligotrophic region of the western tropical South Pacific, two contrasted regions were sampled in terms of N2 fixation rates, primary production rates and nutrient availability. The aim of this work was to investigate the role of N2 fixation in the differences observed between the two contrasted areas by comparing two simulations only differing by the presence or not of N2 fixers using a 1-D biogeochemical–physical coupled model.
Thibaut Wagener, Nicolas Metzl, Mathieu Caffin, Jonathan Fin, Sandra Helias Nunige, Dominique Lefevre, Claire Lo Monaco, Gilles Rougier, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 15, 5221–5236, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5221-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5221-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The western tropical South Pacific was sampled along a longitudinal 4000 km transect (OUTPACE cruise) for the measurement of carbonate parameters (total alkalinity and total inorganic carbon) between the Melanesian Archipelago and the western part of the South Pacific gyre. This paper reports this new dataset and derived properties. We also estimate anthropogenic carbon distribution in the water column using the TrOCA method.
Thierry Moutin, Thibaut Wagener, Mathieu Caffin, Alain Fumenia, Audrey Gimenez, Melika Baklouti, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Mireille Pujo-Pay, Karine Leblanc, Dominique Lefevre, Sandra Helias Nunige, Nathalie Leblond, Olivier Grosso, and Alain de Verneil
Biogeosciences, 15, 2961–2989, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2961-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2961-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Surface waters of the western tropical South Pacific were sampled along a longitudinal 4000 km transect during the stratified period between the Melanesian Archipelago and the western part of the South Pacific gyre. We found a significant biological carbon pump sustained almost exclusively by N2 fixation and essentially controlled by phosphate availability in the iron-rich Melanesian Archipelago waters which appears to be a net sink for atmospheric CO2 while the gyre is in a quasi-steady state.
France Van Wambeke, Audrey Gimenez, Solange Duhamel, Cécile Dupouy, Dominique Lefevre, Mireille Pujo-Pay, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 15, 2669–2689, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2669-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2669-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The western tropical South Pacific Ocean has recently been shown to be a hotspot for biological nitrogen fixation. In this study, we examined the horizontal and vertical distribution of heterotrophic prokaryotic production alongside photosynthetic rates, nitrogen fixation rates and phosphate turnover times across the western tropical South Pacific Ocean, in order to relate these fluxes to bottom–up controls (related to nitrogen, phosphate and labile C availability).
Angela N. Knapp, Kelly M. McCabe, Olivier Grosso, Nathalie Leblond, Thierry Moutin, and Sophie Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 15, 2619–2628, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2619-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2619-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The spatial distribution of biological N2 fixation fluxes to the ocean remains poorly constrained. Here we use nitrogen isotope budgets to identify significant N2 fixation inputs to the western tropical South Pacific (WTSP), where N2 fixation supports > 50 % of export production at stations proximal to iron sources. The significant N2 fixation inputs in the WTSP may offset nitrogen loss in the oxygen-deficient zones of the eastern tropical South Pacific.
Mathieu Caffin, Thierry Moutin, Rachel Ann Foster, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Andrea Michelangelo Doglioli, Hugo Berthelot, Cécile Guieu, Olivier Grosso, Sandra Helias-Nunige, Nathalie Leblond, Audrey Gimenez, Anne Alexandra Petrenko, Alain de Verneil, and Sophie Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 15, 2565–2585, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2565-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2565-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We performed N budgets to assess the role of N2 fixation on production and export in the western tropical South Pacific Ocean. We deployed a combination of techniques including high-sensitivity measurements of N input and sediment traps deployment. We demonstrated that N2 fixation was the major source of new N before atmospheric deposition and upward nitrate fluxes. It contributed significantly to organic matter export, indicating a high efficiency of this region to export carbon.
Alain de Verneil, Louise Rousselet, Andrea M. Doglioli, Anne A. Petrenko, Christophe Maes, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 15, 2125–2147, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2125-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2125-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Oceanographic campaigns to measure biogeochemical processes popularly deploy drifters with onboard incubations to stay in a single body of water. Here, we aggregate physical data taken during such a cruise, OUTPACE, to independently test in a new approach whether the drifter really stayed in what can be considered a single biological or chemical environment. This study concludes that future campaigns would benefit from similar data collection and analysis to validate their sampling strategy.
Alain Fumenia, Thierry Moutin, Sophie Bonnet, Mar Benavides, Anne Petrenko, Sandra Helias Nunige, and Christophe Maes
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2017-557, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2017-557, 2018
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
The Melanesian archipelago waters between 160° E and 170° W are characterized by a significant N2 fixation rates and an excess of particulate organic nitrogen compared to the canonical ratio of Redfield and a positive N*. We hypothesize that the southern branch of the subtropical gyre is probably the main vector of excess nitrogen transport in the thermocline waters showing an influence of nitrogen fixation occurring in the western tropical in a large part of the South Pacific.
Alain de Verneil, Louise Rousselet, Andrea M. Doglioli, Anne A. Petrenko, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 14, 3471–3486, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3471-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3471-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
A surface summer plankton bloom in the western tropical South Pacific was sampled during the Oligotrophy to UlTra-oligotrophy PACific Experiment (OUTPACE) cruise. We characterize the bloom's properties and the circulation responsible for its evolution. Nitrogen fixation helped sustain the bloom, and larger-scale flows, rather than the smaller ones, explain its movements. Future studies of blooms in this region can make use of these findings to track the horizontal export of plankton production.
Thierry Moutin, Andrea Michelangelo Doglioli, Alain de Verneil, and Sophie Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 14, 3207–3220, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3207-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3207-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The overall goal of OUTPACE was to obtain a successful representation of the interactions between planktonic organisms and the cycle of biogenic elements in the western tropical South Pacific Ocean across trophic and N2 fixation gradients. The international OUTPACE cruise took place between 18 February and 3 April 2015 aboard the RV L’Atalante and involved 60 scientists. The transect covered ~4 000 km from the western part of the Melanesian archipelago to the western boundary of the gyre.
Audrey Gimenez, Melika Baklouti, Sophie Bonnet, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 13, 5103–5120, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5103-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5103-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
In the context of the VAHINE mesocosm experiment in the Nouméa lagoon (New Caledonia), a 1-D vertical biogeochemical mechanistic model was used together with the in situ experiment to complement our comprehension of the planktonic ecosystem dynamics and the main biogeochemical carbon, nitrogen and phosphate fluxes. The model also showed the fate of fixed N2 by providing, over time, the proportion of diazotroph-derived nitrogen (DDN) in each compartment (mineral and organic) of the model.
Angela N. Knapp, Sarah E. Fawcett, Alfredo Martínez-Garcia, Nathalie Leblond, Thierry Moutin, and Sophie Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 13, 4645–4657, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-4645-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-4645-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The goal of this manuscript was to track the fate of newly fixed nitrogen (N) in large volume mesocosms in the coastal waters of New Caledonia. We used a N isotope ("δ15N") budget and found a shift in the δ15N of sinking particulate N over the 23-day experiment, indicating that nitrate supported export production at the beginning of the experiment, but that nitrogen fixation supported export at the end. We infer that nitrogen fixation supported export production by a release of dissolved N.
Ilana Berman-Frank, Dina Spungin, Eyal Rahav, France Van Wambeke, Kendra Turk-Kubo, and Thierry Moutin
Biogeosciences, 13, 3793–3805, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3793-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3793-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
In the marine environment, sticky sugar-containing gels, termed transparent exopolymeric particles (TEP), are produced from biological sources and physical and chemical processes. These compounds are essential vectors enhancing downward flow of organic matter and its storage at depth. Spatial and temporal dynamics of TEPs were followed for 23 days during the VAHINE mesocosm experiment that investigated the fate of nitrogen and carbon derived from organisms fixing atmospheric N2 (diazotrophs).
France Van Wambeke, Ulrike Pfreundt, Aude Barani, Hugo Berthelot, Thierry Moutin, Martine Rodier, Wolfgang R. Hess, and Sophie Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 13, 3187–3202, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3187-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3187-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The phytoplankton is at the base of the plankton food web in large parts of oceanic "deserts" such as the South Pacific Ocean, where nitrogen sources limit activity. Mesocosms were fertilized with phosphorus to stimulate diazotrophy (atmospheric N2 fixation). Mostly diazotroph-derived nitrogen fuelled the heterotrophic bacterial community through indirect processes generating dissolved organic matter and detritus, such as mortality, lysis and grazing of both diazotrophs and non-diazotrophs.
Sophie Bonnet, Thierry Moutin, Martine Rodier, Jean-Michel Grisoni, Francis Louis, Eric Folcher, Bertrand Bourgeois, Jean-Michel Boré, and Armelle Renaud
Biogeosciences, 13, 2803–2814, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2803-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2803-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
e main goal of the VAHINE project was to study the fate of N2 fixation in the ocean. Three large-volume (~ 50 m3) mesocosms were deployed in a tropical oligotrophic ecosystem (the New Caledonia lagoon, south-eastern Pacific). This introductory paper describes the scientific objectives of the project in detail as well as the implementation plan: the mesocosm description and deployment, the selection of the study site, and the logistical and sampling strategy.
A. Guyennon, M. Baklouti, F. Diaz, J. Palmieri, J. Beuvier, C. Lebaupin-Brossier, T. Arsouze, K. Béranger, J.-C. Dutay, and T. Moutin
Biogeosciences, 12, 7025–7046, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7025-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7025-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) has already been identified as a potentially significant source of carbon export in the Mediterranean Sea, though in situ export estimations are scarce. This work provides a thorough analysis at basin scale of carbon export with the coupled model NEMO-MED12/Eco3M-MED model. The seasonality and the processes of particulate and dissolved carbon production are also investigated. DOC export appears to be dominant in most regions, especially in the eastern basin.
H. Berthelot, T. Moutin, S. L'Helguen, K. Leblanc, S. Hélias, O. Grosso, N. Leblond, B. Charrière, and S. Bonnet
Biogeosciences, 12, 4099–4112, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4099-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4099-2015, 2015
A. Talarmin, F. Van Wambeke, P. Lebaron, and T. Moutin
Biogeosciences, 12, 1237–1247, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1237-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-1237-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Along a transect in the warm nutrient-depleted Mediterranean Sea, we found that microorganisms shared phosphate resources by using different uptake strategies. Heterotrophic prokaryotes dominated phosphate uptake in the upper layers while cyanobacteria dominated uptake fluxes around the deep chlorophyll maximum depth. Synechococcus seemed well equipped to respond to pulses of phosphate, whereas Prochlorococcus and heterotrophs were more adapted to very low concentrations.
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