An organic carbon budget for the Mississippi River turbidity plume and plume contributions to air-sea CO2 fluxes and bottom water hypoxia |
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Authors: | Rebecca E Green Thomas S Bianchi Michael J Dagg Nan D Walker Greg A Breed |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University, 70118, New Orleans,, Louisiana 4. Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, 70344, Chauvin, Louisiana 5. Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, 70803, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 6. Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, B3H 4J1, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Abstract: | We investigated seasonal variability in organic carbon (OC) budgets using a physical-biological model for the Mississippi
River turbidity plume. Plume volume was calculated from mixed layer depth and area in each of four salinity subregions based
on an extensive set of cruise data and satellite-derived suspended sediment distributions. These physical measurements were
coupled with an existing food web model to determine seasonally dependent budgets for labile (reactive on time scales of days
to weeks) OC in each salinity subregion. Autochthonous gross primary production (GPP) equaled 1.3×1012 g C yr−1 and dominated labile OC inputs (88% of the budget) because riverine OC was assumed mostly refractory (nonreactive). For perspective,
riverine OC inputs amounted to 3.9×1012 g C yr−1, such that physical inputs were 3 times greater than biological inputs to the plume. Annually, microbial respiration (R)
accounted for 65% of labile OC losses and net metabolism (GPP—R) for the entire plume was, autotrophic, equaling 5.1×1011 g C yr−1. Smaller losses of labile OC occurred via sedimentation (20%), advection (10%), and export to higher trophic levels (5%).
In our present model, annual losses of labile OC are 10% higher than inputs, indicating future improvements are required.
Application of our model to estimate air-sea carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes indicated the plume was a net sink of 2.0×109 mol CO2 yr−1, of which 90% of the total drawdown was from biotic factors. In all seasons, low salinity waters were a source of CO2 (pCO2=560–890 μatm), and intermediate to high salinity waters were a sink of CO2 (pCO2=200–370 μatm). Our model was also used to calculate O2 demand for the development, of regional hypoxia, and our spring and early summer budgets indicated that sedimentation of
autochthonous OC from the immediate plume contributed 23% of the O2 demand necessary for establishment of hypoxia in the region. |
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