Stange, Paul, Bach, Lennart T. , Le Moigne, Frederic A. C. , Taucher, Jan , Boxhammer, Tim and Riebesell, Ulf (2017) Quantifying the time lag between organic matter production and export in the surface ocean: Implications for estimates of export efficiency. Geophysical Research Letters, 44 (1). pp. 268-276. DOI 10.1002/2016GL070875.

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Abstract

The ocean's potential to export carbon to depth partly depends on the fraction of primary production (PP) sinking out of the euphotic zone (i.e., the e-ratio). Measurements of PP and export flux are often performed simultaneously in the field, although there is a temporal delay between those parameters. Thus, resulting e-ratio estimates often incorrectly assume an instantaneous downward export of PP to export flux. Evaluating results from four mesocosm studies, we find that peaks in organic matter sedimentation lag chlorophyll a peaks by 2 to 15 days. We discuss the implications of these time lags (TLs) for current e-ratio estimates and evaluate potential controls of TL. Our analysis reveals a strong correlation between TL and the duration of chlorophyll a buildup, indicating a dependency of TL on plankton food web dynamics. This study is one step further toward time-corrected e-ratio estimates

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