Articles | Volume 22, issue 14
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-3515-2025
© Author(s) 2025. 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-22-3515-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
23 Jul 2025
Research article |
| 23 Jul 2025
| 23 Jul 2025
A time series analysis of transparent exopolymer particle distributions and C : N stoichiometry in the subtropical North Pacific: a key process in net community production and preformed nitrate anomalies?
Kieran Curran
Ocean Process Analysis Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
Tracy A. Villareal
Marine Science Institute, University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX 78373, USA
Robert T. Letscher
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Ocean Process Analysis Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
Related authors
Stella Rowley, Kieran Curran, Kai Ziervogel, Tracy A. Villareal, and Robert T. Letscher
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4289, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4289, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
Short summary
Short summary
In the subtropical North Pacific, the amount of dissolved inorganic carbon fixed by photosynthesis in surface waters doesn’t match the expected amount of oxygen consumed and nutrients released at depth. Small sticky particles released by microorganisms, called Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) and Coomassie-stainable particles (CSP), may help explain this mismatch. This study addresses how TEP and CSP influence the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen budgets in the North Pacific gyre.
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Stella Rowley, Kieran Curran, Kai Ziervogel, Tracy A. Villareal, and Robert T. Letscher
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4289, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4289, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
Short summary
Short summary
In the subtropical North Pacific, the amount of dissolved inorganic carbon fixed by photosynthesis in surface waters doesn’t match the expected amount of oxygen consumed and nutrients released at depth. Small sticky particles released by microorganisms, called Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) and Coomassie-stainable particles (CSP), may help explain this mismatch. This study addresses how TEP and CSP influence the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen budgets in the North Pacific gyre.
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Short summary
This work provides a 2-year record of marine organic gel concentrations from an open-ocean site in the subtropical North Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii. These microscopic gels are investigated to understand their importance as an understudied component of organic matter cycling by marine microbes. We find an important role of gel cycling during the summer months, helping explain previously contradictory estimates of nutrient supply and demand for the subtropical ocean.
This work provides a 2-year record of marine organic gel concentrations from an open-ocean site...
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