HR: 16:30h
AN: OS34A-03    [Abstracts]
TI: The Role of Diatoms in Export Flux
AU: * Kemp, A E
EM: aesk@noc.soton.ac.uk
AF: University of Southampton, School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH United Kingdom
AU: Pike, J
EM: PikeJ@Cardiff.ac.uk
AF: Cardiff University, School of Earth, Ocean & Planetary Sciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Cardiff, CF10 3YE United Kingdom
AU: Pearce, R B
EM: rp1@noc.soton.ac.uk
AF: University of Southampton, School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH United Kingdom
AU: Davies, A
EM: adz@noc.soton.ac.uk
AF: University of Southampton, School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH United Kingdom
AB: Recent oceanographic observations and experiments have shed a new light on the mechanisms of production in oligotrophic settings and the significance of this for export. Phytoplankton species and lifestyles (e.g. symbiosis with N-fixing cyanobacteria) previously thought to be characteristic of subsistence or low production have been shown to be involved in major production and export events. Parallel studies of ancient Quaternary and Neogene sediments have confirmed that major flux of both opal and organic carbon may be associated with such styles of production. In particular, a number of genera and species of diatoms, not hitherto regarded as biogeochemically significant appear to be key players in export in stratified or oligotrophic settings. Recent research extending to marine sediments of Cretaceous age shows that ancestors of these key diatoms were the dominant genera of the time and may have played a critical role in export from Cretaceous seas. The implications of these findings call for a species-approach both to modern oceanographic observations and in studies of ancient sediments.
DE: 1615 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 4805, 4912)
DE: 4273 Physical and biogeochemical interactions
DE: 4805 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 1615, 4912)
DE: 4912 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 1615, 4805)
DE: 4944 Micropaleontology (0459, 3030)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005