Respiration in the dark ocean
The dark ocean, the waters below 200 m depth, comprises about 95% of the volume of the ocean, but its contribution to the metabolism of the ocean is poorly quantified. Here we show that the respiration rate of microplankton declines exponentially at a rate of 0.53 km-1 in the dark ocean, and is enha...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2003 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/86810 |
| Acesso em linha: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/86810 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Resumo: | The dark ocean, the waters below 200 m depth, comprises about 95% of the volume of the ocean, but its contribution to the metabolism of the ocean is poorly quantified. Here we show that the respiration rate of microplankton declines exponentially at a rate of 0.53 km-1 in the dark ocean, and is enhanced at the interface between the mesopelagic and the abyssal layers (1,000-2,000 m). The respiratory CO2 production in the dark ocean, estimated at 20 to 33.3 Gt C yr-1, renders it a major component of the carbon flux in the biosphere. |
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