Jiaying Li1, Zhifei Liu1*, Baozhi Lin1, Yulong Zhao1, Junyuan Cao1, Xiaodong Zhang1, Jingwen Zhang1, Chen Ling1, Pengfei Ma1, and Jiawang Wu1
1 State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Abstract
Zooplankton fecal pellets play a significant role in particulate organic carbon (POC) export, which has been widely reported in different ocean regions. However, zooplankton fecal pellet in the tropical marginal sea and its contribution to the total POC flux has not been sufficiently investigated yet. Here, for the first time we report zooplankton fecal pellet characteristics and fluxes in the South China Sea from June 2020 to May 2021 via one mooring with two sediment traps deployed at 500 m and 2190 m depths. Average fecal pellet numerical flux was 2.30×104 and 4.22×104 pellets m-2 d-1at 500 m and 2190 m, respectively, corresponding to average fecal pellet carbon (FPC) flux from 0.31 to 0.71 mg C m-2 d-1. Small ellipsoidal and spherical pellets accounted for more than 90% of the total numerical flux, while large cylindrical pellets, although relatively rare (6%), accounted for almost 15% of the FPC flux. Both fecal pellet numerical and carbon fluxes were higher in winter, when the strong East Asian winter monsoon winds and heavy rainfall promoted the marine primary production. Higher fecal pellet fluxes combining with the presence of extra-large pellets at 2190 m compared to those at 500 m suggested the in-situ repackaging of deep-dwelling zooplankton communities in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones. Contribution of fecal pellets to the total POC flux ranged from 0.4% to 30.0% (averaging 9.0%), with higher values occurring during winter monsoon, at which time fecal pellets became a critical conveyor of carbon export to the deep sea.
Full article: https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JC019412
