Marine Palynologie

Lateral and vertical transport of Particulate Organic Matter

CO2 concentration is rising

Where does marine organic matter (that transports carbon to the ocean floor) settle and how does this influence carbon sequestration.

We use dinoflagellate cysts to obtain insight into transport processes of particulate organic matter of the silt size fraction.

Abbildung zeigt — Recovery of a drifting trap in the early morning

What we do

Dinoflagellate cysts are produced in the upper water column and settle in the form of marine snow, aggregates and fecal pellets to the ocean floor. Their morphology is species specific which provides us the unique opportunity to follow the particles from their production in the upper water column, throughout the deeper water column into the sediments. For this we collected at key locations along ocean margins the freshly produced cyst that are being exported out of the photic zone by drifting traps, the settling associations in deeper waters below these locations by in-situ pumps and the settled particles in surface sediments by multicores.

We could show that in the Cape Blanc and Iberian upwelling regions, particles are settling both vertically as well as are being transported vertically notably by nepheloid layers (e.g. Garcia Moreiras et al., 2023, 2024, Zonneveld et al., 2021, 2022). We could demonstrate that vertical transport from particles from the shelf to the deep ocean could be traced to about 130 km offshore.

Some literature

Garcia-Moreiras, I., Amorim, A, Zonneveld, K.A.F. (2024). Transport and preservation of calcareous and organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts off Cape Blanc (NW Africa) in relation to nepheloid layers. Marine Environmental Research 199, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106577

García-Moreiras, I Hatherly, M., Zonneveld, K., Dubert, J., Nolasco, R., Santos, A.I., Oliveira, A., Moita, T., Oliveira, P.B., Magalhães, J.M., Amorim. A. New physical and biological evidence of lateral transport affecting dinoflagellate cyst distribution in the benthic nepheloid layer along a land-sea transect off Figueira da Foz (Atlantic Iberian margin). Frontiers in Marine Science, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1270343.

Zonneveld, K.A.F., Grotheer, H., Versteegh, G.J.M. (2022). Dinoflagellate cysts production, excystment and transport in the upwelling off Cape Blanc (NW Africa). Frontiers in Marine Science, 10.3389/fmars.2022.915755.

Zonneveld K.A.F., Donner B., Meiland J., Versteegh G.J.M. (2021). Export flux succession of dinoflagellate cysts and planktonic foraminifera in an active upwelling cell off Cape Blanc (NW Africa). European Journal of Phycology, 1-19. doi: 10.1080/09670262.2021.1885066