Sinking fate and carbon export of zooplankton fecal pellets: insights from time-series sediment trap observations in the northern South China Sea

Wang, Hanxiao; Liu, Zhifei; Li, Jiaying; Lin, Baozhi; Zhao, Yulong; Zhang, Xiaodong; Cao, Junyuan; Zhang, Jingwen; Song, Hongzhe; Wang, Wenzhuo

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5109-2023

Articles | Volume 20, issue 24

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5109-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5109-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 24

Research article

|

20 Dec 2023

Research article |

| 20 Dec 2023

Sinking fate and carbon export of zooplankton fecal pellets: insights from time-series sediment trap observations in the northern South China Sea

Hanxiao Wang, Zhifei Liu, Jiaying Li, Baozhi Lin, Yulong Zhao, Xiaodong Zhang, Junyuan Cao, Jingwen Zhang, Hongzhe Song, and Wenzhuo Wang

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5109-2023-supplement

Data sets

Flux data of total mass, particulate organic carbon, and zooplankton fecal pellet of time-series sediment trap samples at the mooring TJ-A1B in the northern South China Sea Hanxiao Wang, Zhifei Liu, Jiaying Li, Baozhi Lin, and Yulong Zhao https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.962713

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Short summary

The sinking of zooplankton fecal pellets is a key process in the marine biological carbon pump. This study presents carbon export of four shapes of fecal pellets from two time-series sediment traps in the South China Sea. The results show that the sinking fate of fecal pellets is regulated by marine primary productivity, deep-dwelling zooplankton community, and deep-sea currents in the tropical marginal sea, thus providing a new perspective for exploring the carbon cycle in the world ocean.