Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Pelagic processes and vertical flux of particles: an overview of a long-term comparative study in the Norwegian Sea and Greenland Sea

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Geologische Rundschau Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Pelagic processes and their relation to vertical flux have been studied in the Norwegian and Greenland Seas since 1986. Results of long-term sediment trap deployments and adjoining process studies are presented, and the underlying methodological and conceptional background is discussed. Recent extension of these investigations at the Barents Sea continental slope are also presented. With similar conditions of input irradiation and nutrient conditions, the Norwegian and Greenland Seas exhibit comparable mean annual rates of new and total production. Major differences can be found between these regions, however, in the hydrographic conditions constraining primary production and in the composition and seasonal development of the plankton. This is reflected in differences in the temporal patterns of vertical particle flux in relation to new production in the euphotic zone, the composition of particles exported and in different processes leading to their modification in the mid-water layers.

In the Norwegian Sea heavy grazing pressure during early spring retards the accumulation of phytoplankton stocks and thus a mass sedimentation of diatoms that is often associated with spring blooms. This, in conjunction with the further seasonal development of zooplankton populations, serves to delay the annual peak in sedimentation to summer or autumn. Carbonate sedimentation in the Norwegian Sea, however, is significantly higher than in the Greenland Sea, where physical factors exert a greater control on phytoplankton development and the sedimentation of opal is of greater importance. In addition to these comparative long-term studies a case study has been carried out at the continental slope of the Barents Sea, where an emphasis was laid on the influence of resuspension and across-slope lateral transport with an analysis of suspended and sedimented material.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Angel MV (1989) Does mesopelagic biology affect the vertical flux? In: Berger WM, Smetacek VS, Wefer G (eds) Productivity in the Ocean: Present and Past. Wiley, Chicester, pp 155–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Antia AN (1991) Microzooplankton in the pelagic food web of the East Greenland Sea and its role in sedimentation processes. Ber Sonderforschungsbereich 313 Univ Kiel 33:1–101 Antia AN, 15 others (1990) The pelagic system and vertical particle flux during autumn in the Greenland Sea, Jan Mayen Current. Ber Sonderforschungsbereich 313 Univ Kiel 26:154

    Google Scholar 

  • Antia AN, Bauerfeind E, Bodungen B v, Zeller U (1993) Abundance, encystment and sedimentation of acantharia during autumn 1990 in the East Greenland Sea. J Plankton Res 15:99–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Arndt K (1990) Verbreitung, Produktion und Sedimentation von Diatomeen in der Grönlandsee. Diplomarbeit, Univ Kiel: 1–84

  • Bathmann UV (1988) Mass occurence of Salpa fusiformis in the spring of 1984 of Ireland: implications for sedimentation processes. Mar Biol 97:127–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Bathman UV, Noji TT, Voss M, Peinert R (1987) Copepod fecal pellets: abundance, sedimentation and content at a permanent station in the Norwegian Sea in May/June 1986. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 38:45–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Bathmann UV, Noji TT, Bodungen B v (1990a) Copepod grazing in later winter in the Norwegian Sea — a factor in the control of spring phytoplankton growth? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 60:225–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Bathmann UV, Peinert R, Noji TT, Bodungen B v (1990b) Pelagic origin and fate of sedimenting particles in the Norwegian Sea. Prog Oceanogr 24:117–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Bathmann UV, Noji TT, Bodungen B v (1991) Sedimentation of pteropods in the Norwegian Sea in autumn. Deep-Sea Res 38:1341–1360

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauerfeind E, Bodungen B v, Arndt K, Koeve W. Particle flux and composition of sedimenting matter in the Greenland Sea. J Mar Syst, in press

  • Betzer PR, Shawers WJ, Laws EA, Winn CD, Di Tullio GR, Kroopwick PM (1984) Primary productivity and particle fluxes on a transect of the equator at 153°W in the Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Res 31:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger WM, Wefer G (1990) Export production: seasonality and intermittency, and paleooceanographic implications. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 89:245–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Billet DSM, Lampitt RS, Rice AL, Mantoura RFC (1983) Seasonal sedimentation of phytoplankton to the deep-sea benthos. Nature 302:520–522

    Google Scholar 

  • Blaume F (1992) Hochakkumulationsgebiet an norwegischen Kontinentalhang: Sedimentologische Abbilder topographiege-führter Strömungsmuster. Ber Sonderforschungsbereich 313 Univ Kiel 36:1–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Blindheim J (1989) Cascading of Barents Sea bottom water into the Norwegian Sea. Rapp P-v Réun Cons Int Mer 188:49–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Bodungen B v (1986) Phytoplankton growth and krill grazing during spring in the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. Implications from sediment trap collections. Polar Biol 6:153–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Bodungen B v (1989) Pelagische Primärproduktion und vertikaler Partikelfluß im Ocean. Habilitationsschrift Univ Kiel:1–158

  • Bodungen B v, Bröckel K, Smetacek V, Zeitzschel B (1981) Growth and sedimentation of the phytoplankton spring bloom in the Bornholm Sea (Baltic Sea). Kieler Meeresforsch Sonderband 5:49–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Bodungen B v, Fischer G, Nöthig E-M, Wefer G (1987) Sedimentation of krill faeces during spring development of phytoplankton in the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. In: Degens ET, Izdar E, Honjo S (eds) Mitt Geol-Palaont Inst Univ Hamburg, SLOPE/UNEP Sonderband 62:243–257

  • Bodungen B v, Bauerfeind E, Koeve W, Zeitzschel B (1990) Plankton development and vertical particle flux in June/July 1989 in the south western Greenland Sea. Eos 70:213

    Google Scholar 

  • Bodungen B v, Bathmann U, Voss M, Wunsch M (1991a) Vertical particle flux in the Norwegian Sea — Resuspension and interannual variability. In: Wassmann P, Heiskanen AS, Lindahl O (eds) Sediment Trap Studies in the Nordic Countries 2. Nurmi Print Oy, Nurmijärvi, pp 116–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Bodungen B v, Wunsch M, Füderer H (1991b) Sampling and analysis of suspended and sinking particles in the northern North Atlantic. In: Hurd DC, Spencer DW (eds) Marine Particles: Analysis and Characterization. Am Geophys Union, Geophys Monogr 63:47–56

  • Buessler KO (1991) Do upper-ocean sediment traps provide an accurate record of particle flux? Nature 353:420–423

    Google Scholar 

  • Deuser WG (1987) Variability of hydrography and particle flux: transient and long-term relationships. In: Degens ET, Izdar E, Honjo S (eds) Mitt Geol-Palaont Inst Univ Hamburg, SLOPE/UNEP Sonderband 62:179–193

  • Eppley RW (1989) New production: history, methods, problems. In: Berger WM, Smetacek VS, Wefer G (eds) Productivity in the Ocean: Present and Past. Wiley, Chichester. pp 85–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Eppley RW, Koeve W (1990) Nitrate use by plankton in the eastern subtropical North Atlantic, March–April 1989. Limnol Oceanogr 35:1781–1788

    Google Scholar 

  • Fasham MJR, Sarmiento JL, Slater RD, Ducklow HW, Williams R (1993) Ecosystem behaviour at Bermuda Station “S” and Ocean Weather Ship “India”: a general circulation model and observational analysis. Global Biogeochem Cyles, 7:379–415

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowler SW, Knauer GA (1986) Role of large particles in the transport of elements and organic compounds through the ocean water column. Prog Oceanogr 16:147–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Fürderer H (1991) Zooplankton in Sinkstoffallen in Beziehung zur vertikalen Verteilung im Europäischen Nordmeer. Diplomarbeit Univ Kiel:1–73

  • Gardner WD (1989) Baltimore Canyon as a modern conduit of sediment to the deep sea. Deep-Sea Res 36:323–358

    Google Scholar 

  • Garside C, Garside JC (1993) The “f-ratio” on 20°W during the North Atlantic Bloom Experiment. Deep-Sea Res 40:75–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Gloe T (1988) Reaktionen natürlicher Phytoplanktonpopulationen auf Licht- und Nährsalzänderungen in Tankexperimenten. Diplomarbeit Univ Kiel:1–95

  • Gonzales H, Smetacek V (1994) The possible role of the cyclopoid copepod Oithona in retarding vertical flux of zooplankton material. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 113:233–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Gradinger R, Baumann MEM (1991) Distribution of phytoplankton communities in relation to the large scale hydrographical regime in the Fram Strait. Mar Biol 111:311–321

    Google Scholar 

  • Graf G, Gerlach SA, Linke P, Queisser W, Ritzrau W, Scheltz A, Thomsen L, Witte U (1994) Benthic-pelagic coupling in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea and its effect on the geological record. Geol Rundsch 84:49–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargrave BT, v Bodungen B, Stoffyn-Egli P, Mudie PJ (1994) Seasonal variability in particle sedimentation under permanent ice cover in the Arctic Ocean. Cont Shelf Res 14:279–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassan M (1991) Die Exsudation des Phytoplanktons in der westlichen Grönlandsee. Diplomarbeit Univ Kiel:1–112

  • Honjo S (1990) Particle fluxes and modern sedimentation in polar oceans. In: Smith WO Jr (ed) Polar Oceanography Part B. Chemistry, Biology, Geology. Academic Press, London, pp 687–737

    Google Scholar 

  • Humborg C (1991) Experimentelle Untersuchungen zum Umsatz von Phosphor und Stickstoff in natürlichen Planktongemeinschaften. Diplomarbeit Univ Kiel:1–107

  • Ittekott V, Haake B, Bartsch M, Nair RR, Ramaswamy V (1992) Organic carbon removal in the sea: the continental connection. In: Summerhayes CP, Prell WL, Emais K (eds) Upwelling Systems: Evolution Since the Early Miocene. Spec Publ Geol Soc London No 64:167–176

  • Kirchman DL, Suzuki Y, Garside C, Ducklow HW (1991) High turnover rates of dissolved organic carbon during a spring phytoplankton bloom. Nature 352:612–614

    Google Scholar 

  • Knauer G, Asper V (eds) (1989) Sediment trap technology and sampling. US GOFS Planning Report 10, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution:1–94

  • Koeve W (1992) New production of phytoplankton in the tropical and subarctic North Atlantic. Dissertation Univ Kiel:1–98

  • Koeve W, Eppley RW, Podewski S, Zeitzschel B (1993) An unexpected nitrate distribution in the tropical North Atlantic at 18°N, 30°W — implications for new production. Deep-Sea Res 40:521–536

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampitt RS, Noji TT, Bodungen B v (1990) What happens to zooplankton faecal pellets? Implications for material flux. Mar Biol 104:15–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampitt RS, Hillier WR, Challenor PG (1993) Seasonal and diel variation in the open ocean concentration of marine snow aggregates. Nature 362:737–739

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee C, Wakeham SG, Hedges JI (1988) The measurement of oceanic particle flux — are swimmers a problem? Oceanography 1:34–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee C, Hedges JI, Wakeham SG, Zhu N (1992) Effectiveness of various treatments in retarding microbial activity in sediment trap material and their effect on the collection of swimmers. Limnol Oceanogr 37:117–130

    Google Scholar 

  • Legendre L, Gosselin M (1989) New production and export of organic matter to the deep ocean: consequences of some recent discoveries. Limnol Oceanogr 34:1374–1380

    Google Scholar 

  • Legendre L, Le Fevre (1989) Hydrodynamical singularities as controls of recycled versus export production in oceans. In: Berger WM, Smetacek VS, Wefer G (eds) Productivity in the Ocean: Present and Past. Wiley, Chichester, pp 49–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Longhurst AR, Harrison WG (1988) Vertical nitrogen flux from the euphotic zone by diel migrant zooplankton and necton. Deep-Sea Res 35:881–889

    Google Scholar 

  • Machado E (1993) Production, sedimentation and dissolution of biogenic silica in the northern North Atlantic. Dissertation Univ Kiel:1–123

  • Miquel JC, Fowler SW, La Rosa J, Buat-Menard P (1994) Dynamics of the downward flux of particles and carbon in the open northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Deep-Sea Res 41 (2):243–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Noji TT (1991) The influence of macrozooplankton on vertical particle flux. Sarsia 76:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Noji TT, Estep KW, Macintyre F, Norrbin F (1991) Image analysis of feacal material grazed upon by three species of copepods: evidence for coprorhexy, coprophagy and coprochaly. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 71:465–480

    Google Scholar 

  • Peeken I. Modifikation von Markerpigmenten im pelagischen Nahrungsnetz des Europäischen Nordmeeres und ihre Abbildung im vertikalen Partikelfluß. Dissertation Univ Kiel, in preparation

  • Peinert R, Bathmann UV, Bodungen B v, Noji TT (1987) The impact of grazing on spring growth and sedimentation in the Norwegian Current. In: Degens ET, Izdar E, Honjo S (eds) Mitt Geol-Paläont Inst Univ Hamburg. SCOPE/UNEP Sonderband 62:149–164

  • Peinert R, Bodungen B v, Smetacek VS (1989) Food web structure and loss rate. In: Berger WM, Smetacek VS, Wefer G (eds) Productivity in the Ocean: Present and Past. Wiley, Chichester, pp 35–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Prahl FG, Wakeham SG (1987) Calibration of unsaturation patterns in long chain ketone compositions for palaeotemperature assessments. Nature 330:367–369

    Google Scholar 

  • Puch M (1990) Zum Silikathaushalt des Pelagials im Europäischen Nordmeer. Diplomarbeit Univ Kiel:1–75

  • Riebesell U, Wolf-Gladrow DA (1992) The relationship between physical aggregation of phytoplankton and partical flux: a numerical model. Deep-Sea Res 39:1085–1102

    Google Scholar 

  • Samtleben C, Schäfer P, Andruleit H, Baumann A, Baumann KH, Kohly A, Mathiessen J, Schroder-Ritzrau A (1994) Plankton in the northern North Atlantic: from living communities to sediment assemblages — an actualistic approach. Geol Rundsch 84:108–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel DA, Granata TC, Michaels AF, Dickey TD (1990) Mesoscale eddy diffusion, particle sinking, and the interpretation of sediment trap data. J Geophys Res 95 (C4):5305–5311

    Google Scholar 

  • Smetacek VS (1984) The supply of food to the benthos. In: MJR Fasham (ed) Flow of Energy and Materials in Marine Ecosystems. Plenum Press, New York London, pp 517–548

    Google Scholar 

  • Smetacek VS, Scharek R, Nöthig E-M (1990) Seasonal and regional variation in the pelagial and its relationship to the life history of krill. In: Kerry KR, Hempel G (eds) Antarctic Ecosystems. Ecological Change and Conservation. Springer, Berlin, pp 103–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith DC, Simon M, Alldredge AL, Azam F (1992) Intense hydrolytic enzyme activity on marine aggregates and implications for rapid particle solution. Nature 359:139–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith WO (1987) Phytoplankton dynamics in the marginal ice zones. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 25:11–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith WO, Codispoti LA, Nelson DM, Manley T, Buskey EJ, Niebauer HJ, Cota GF (1991) Importance of phaeocystis blooms in the high-latitude ocean carbon cycle. Nature 352:514–516

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomsen C (1993) Verfolgung pelagischer Prozesse mit Hilfe von biochemischen Komponenten am Beispiel der Alkenone (C37:3, C37:2). Dissertation Univ Kiel:1–130

  • Voss M (1991a) Content of copepod feacal pellets in relation to food supply in Kiel Bight and its effect on sedimentation rate. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 75:217–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss M (1991b) Räumliche und zeitliche Verteilung stabiler Isotope (δ15N, 13C) in suspendierten Partikeln im Nördlichen Nordatlantik. Ber Sonderforschungsbereich 313 Univ Kiel 32:1–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh I, Fisher K Murray D, Dymond J (1988) Evidence for resuspension of rebound particles from near bottom sedimenttraps. Deep-Sea Res 35:59–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh JJ (1983) Death in the sea: enigmatic phytoplankton losses. Prog Oceanogr 12:1–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh JJ (1989) How much shelf production reaches the deep ocean? In: Berger WM, Smetacek VS, Wefer G (eds) Productivity in the Ocean: Present and Past. Wiley, Chichester, pp 175–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Wassmann P, Vernet M, Mitchell BG, Rey F (1990) Mass sedimentation of Phaeocystis pouchetii in the Barents Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 66:183–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Wassmann P, Peinert R, Smetacek VS (1991) Patterns of production and sedimentation in the boreal and polar Northeast Atlantic. Polar Res 10:209–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Wefer G (1989) Particle flux in the ocean: effects of episodic production. In: Berger WM, Smetacek VS, Wefer G (eds) Productivity in the Ocean: Present and Past. Wiley, Chichester, pp 139–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Wefer G, Fischer G (1993) Seasonal patterns of vertical particle flux in equatorial and coastal upwelling areas of the eastern Atlantic. Deep-Sea Res 40:1613–1645

    Google Scholar 

  • Wefer G, Fischer G, Fütterer DK, Gersonde R (1988) Seasonal particle flux in the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. Deep-Sea Res 35:891–898

    Google Scholar 

  • Wille M (1988) Experimente zum Abbau von Kopepoden-Kotballen. Diplomarbeit Univ Kiel:1–58

  • Zeller U (1990) Untersuchungen zum Vorkommen and zur Nahrungsökologie von Copepoden in der Grönlandsee. Diplomarbeit Univ Kiel:1–73

  • Zeller U. Vorkommen and Sekundärproduktion des herbivoren Zooplanktons im Europaischen Nordmeer. Dissertation Univ Kiel, in preparation

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Meereskunde, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105, Kiel, Germany

    A. Antia, E. Bauerfeind, O. Haupt, W. Koeve, E. Machado, I. Peeken, R. Peinert, S. Reitmeier, C. Thomsen, M. Wunsch, U. Zeller & B. Zeitzschel

  2. Institut für Ostseeforschung, Seestrasse 15, D-18119, Warnemünde, Germany

    B. von Bodungen & M. Voss

Authors
  1. B. von Bodungen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Antia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. E. Bauerfeind
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. O. Haupt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. W. Koeve
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. E. Machado
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. I. Peeken
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. R. Peinert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. S. Reitmeier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. C. Thomsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. M. Voss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. M. Wunsch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. U. Zeller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. B. Zeitzschel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

von Bodungen, B., Antia, A., Bauerfeind, E. et al. Pelagic processes and vertical flux of particles: an overview of a long-term comparative study in the Norwegian Sea and Greenland Sea. Geol Rundsch 84, 11–27 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00192239

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00192239

Key words

Search

Navigation