HR: 10:40h
AN: OS52A-02    [Abstracts]
TI: MEDFLUX: Association of Organic Matter With Ballast Minerals in Sinking Particles
AU: * Lee, C
EM: cindy.lee@sunysb.edu
AF: Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000 United States
AU: Armstrong, R
EM: rarmstrong@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
AF: Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000 United States
AU: Beck, A
EM: Aaron.Beck@msrc.sunysb.edu
AF: Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000 United States
AU: Cochran, J K
EM: kcochran@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
AF: Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000 United States
AU: Wakeham, S G
EM: stuart@skio.peachnet.edu
AF: Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, 10 Ocean Science Circle, Savannah, GA 31411 United States
AU: Peterson, M L
EM: mlpmlp@u.washington.edu
AF: School of Oceanography, University of Washington Box 357940, Seattle, WA 98195-7940 United States
AU: Miquel, J C
EM: j.c.miquel@iaea.org
AF: Marine Environment Laboratory, International Atomic Energy Agency 4 Quai Antoine 1er, Monte Carlo, 98000 Monaco
AB: Recently we hypothesized that ballast minerals on sinking particles physically protect a fraction of their associated organic matter, and that the ratio of organic carbon to ballast is key to predicting variability in export fluxes and sinking velocities of organic carbon as estimated using radiotracers. To test this idea we collected sinking particles using sediment traps at the French JGOFS DYFAMED site in the western Mediterranean. We measured organic and inorganic carbon, and biogenic and total Si, Ca, Al and Ti, to characterize the organic and inorganic material in the particles. Using traditional assumptions to estimate organic matter, CaCO3, biogenic opal and the lithogenic fraction, we found that 20-30% of the material was unaccounted for. We will make wild and unsubstantiated speculations on what this material might be and how it might affect particle density.
DE: 4825 Geochemistry
DE: 4863 Sedimentation
DE: 4800 OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting