Carbon fluxes through major phytoplankton groups during the spring bloom and post-bloom in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea

The carbon flux through major phytoplankton groups, defined by their pigment markers, was estimated in two contrasting conditions of the Northwestern Mediterranean open ocean ecosystem: the spring bloom and post-bloom situations (hereafter Bloom and Post-bloom, respectively). During Bloom, surface chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentration was higher and dominated by diatoms (53% of Chl a), while during Post-bloom Synechococcus (42%) and Prymnesiophyceae (29%) became dominant. The seawater dilution technique, coupled to high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of pigments and flow cytometry (FCM), was used to estimate growth and grazing rates of major phytoplankton groups in surface waters. Estimated growth rates were corrected for photoacclimation based on FCM-detected changes in red fluorescence per cell. Given the 30% average decrease in the pigment content per cell between the beginning and the end of the incubations, overlooking photoacclimation would have resulted in a 0.40 d^?1 underestimation of phytoplankton growth rates. Corrected average growth rates (μ_o) were 0.90±0.20 (SD) and 0.40±0.14 d^?1 for Bloom and Post-bloom phytoplankton, respectively. Diatoms, Cryptophyceae and Synechococcus were identified as fast-growing groups and Prymnesiophyceae and Prasinophyceae as slow-growing groups across Bloom and Post-bloom conditions. The higher growth rate during Bloom was due to dominance of phytoplankton groups with higher growth rates than those dominating in Post-bloom. Average grazing rates (m) were 0.58±0.20 d^?1 (SD) and 0.31±0.07 d^?1. The proportion of phytoplankton growth consumed by microzooplankton grazing (m/μ_o) tended to be lower in Bloom (0.69±0.34) than in Post-bloom (0.80±0.08). The intensity of nutrient limitation experienced by phytoplankton indicated by μ_o/μ_n (where μ_n is the nutrient-amended growth rate), was similar during Bloom (0.78) and Post-bloom (0.73). Primary production from surface water (PP) was estimated with ¹⁴C incubations. A combination of PP and Chl a synthesis rate yielded C/Chl a ratios of 34±21 and 168±75 (g:g) for Bloom and Post-bloom, respectively. Transformation of group-specific Chl a fluxes into carbon equivalents confirmed the dominant role of diatoms during Bloom and Synechococcus and Prymnesiophyceae during Post-bloom.     

First results on determination of chlorophill <Emphasis Type="Italic">A</Emphasis> and its derivatives in the system of trapped sedimentary material–fluffy layer–bottom sediment of the Caspian Sea

The first data were obtained on the vertical chlorin flux in the water column and its accumulation in the upper layer of sediments of the Caspian Sea. Seasonal variability of the chlorine concentration in sedimentary matter was evaluated. The tendency of decrease in the phytoplankton-synthesized (allochtonous) organic matter content was revealed over approximately the past 60 years.     

Geochemistry of dispersed sedimentary matter and its fluxes in the water column of the Caspian Sea

The first data on the chemical composition of dispersed matter from sedimentary traps are reported. The suspended components of sedimentary matter (amorphous silica, organic matter, carbonates, and lithogenic material, as well as Fe, Mn, and minor elements) are considered. As a result, it is shown that the intraannual variability in vertical fluxes of sedimentary matter is characterized by a seasonal increase in spring and autumn. The high fluxes of the components of sedimentary matter on the northern and southern slopes of the Derbent Basin in winter are explained by precipitation of material from the nepheloid layer that forms over the contour current.