Biogeochemistry and carbon budget during a coccolithophorid bloom in the northern Bay of Biscay (June 2006)

Carbon cycling processes (primary production (PPp), calcification (CAL), bacterial production and pelagic community respiration (PCR)) and variables (partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) and total alkalinity (TA)) were measured in early June 2006 at several stations in the northern Bay of Biscay. These measurements were characterized with respect to the coccolithophorid blooming (growth or decline) based on satellite remote sensing (high reflectance (HR)) and other biogeochemical measurements i.e. inorganic nutrients, chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), phaeopigments (Phaeo), particulate inorganic carbon (PIC), particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate nitrogen (PN)). The major HR patch was located over the shelf, along the continental margin and corresponded to declining bloom conditions characterized by moderate Chl-a <1.0 µg L-1, dissolved phosphate (PO4) depletion, low (<2.0 µmol L-1) dissolved silicate (DSi), low potential primary production (<0.25 µmol C L-1 h-1) and calcification rates (0.02-0.10 µmol C L-1 h-1). Yet, surface waters were undersaturated in CO2 with respect to atmospheric equilibrium. We present a coherent scheme of the C dynamics of a coccolithophorid bloom along the continental margin of the Bay of Biscay, an active hydrodynamic area, based on standing stocks and processes including 14C-based particulate primary production, CAL and PCR. A carbon budget obtained by integrating PPp, CAL and PCR over the water column highlights the importance of C extracellular production to sustain the bacterial demand in the twilight zone, which has also several repercussions on the fate of organic and inorganic C production in the photic zone during the different stages of the bloom.