[en] The distribution of transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) was investigated during a coccolithophorid bloom in the northern Bay of Biscay (North Atlantic Ocean) in early June 2006. MODIS chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and reflectance images before and during the cruise were used to localize areas of important biological activity and high reflectance (HR). TEP profiles along the continental margin, determined using microscopic (TEPmicro) and colorimetric (TEPcolor) methods, showed abundant (6.1 x 10(6)-4.4 x 10(7) L-1) and relatively small (0.5-20 mu m) particles, leading to a low total volume fraction (0.05-2.2 ppm) of TEPmicro and similar vertical profiles of TEPcolor Estimates of carbon content in TEP (TEP-C) derived from the microscopic approach yielded surface concentration of 1.50 mu mol CL-1. The contribution of TEP-C to particulate organic carbon (POC) was estimated to be 12% (molar C ratio) during this survey. Our results suggest that TEP formation is a probable first step to rapid and efficient export of C during declining coccolithophorid blooms. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Disciplines :
Aquatic sciences & oceanology
Author, co-author :
Harlay, Jérôme ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Océanographie chimique
De Bodt, Caroline; Laboratoire d’Océanographie Chimique et Géochimie des Eaux, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Engel, Anja; Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, P.O. Box 120161 – 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
Jansen, Sandra; Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, P.O. Box 120161 – 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
d'Hoop, Quentin; Laboratoire d’Océanographie Chimique et Géochimie des Eaux, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Piontek, Judith; Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, P.O. Box 120161 – 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
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