Reconstructing the ocean’s mesopelagic zone carbon budget: sensitivity and estimation of parameters associated with prokaryotic remineralization

Abstract. Through the constant rain of sinking marine particles in the ocean, carbon (C) trapped within is exported into the water column and sequestered when reaching depths below the mesopelagic zone. Atmospheric CO₂ levels are thereby strongly related to the magnitude of carbon export fluxes in the mesopelagic zone. Sinking particles represent the main source of carbon and energy for mesopelagic organisms, attenuating the C export flux along the water column. Attempts to quantify the amount of C exported versus consumed by heterotrophic organisms have increased in recent decades. Yet, most of the conducted estimations have led to estimated C demands several times higher than the measured C export fluxes. The choice of parameters such as growth efficiencies or various conversion factors is known to greatly impact the resulting C budget. In parallel, field or experimental data are sorely lacking to obtain accurate values of these crucial overlooked parameters. In this study, we identify the most influential of these parameters and perform inversion of a mechanistic model. Further, we determine the optimal parameter values as the ones that best explain the observed prokaryotic respiration, the prokaryotic production, and the zooplankton respirations. The consistency of the resulting C-budget suggests that such budgets can be adequately balanced when using appropriate parameters.