Biogeochemistry of a late coccolithophorid bloom at the continental margin of the Bay of Biscay

Abstract

Recent findings have led to growing concern regarding the impact of ocean acidification on marine calcifyers, but little is known about their biogeochemistry in natural (field) conditions (a major but overlooked pre-requisite for realistic modelling of the future evolution of marine C cycling in a high CO2 world). The changes that will undergo these species in the near future and the biological feedback to decreasing oceanic pH are still open to debate. Coccolithophores, among which Emiliania huxleyi (Ehux) is the most abundant and widespread species, are the dominant calcifying phytoplankton in the subpolar and temperate zones of the worlds oceans. Within the framework of the Climate and Atmosphere Belgian Federal Science Policy Office programme, the continental margin of the Northern Bay of Biscay (North Atlantic Ocean) was visited in June 2006 during a transdisciplinary investigation of a late-spring bloom dominated by Ehux. Remote sensing images, transmitted onboard on a daily basis, were of valuable significance to pinpoint the coccolithophorid bloom along the margin, and to sample stations with contrasted biogeochemical properties.We determined 14C-based primary production and calcification rates, as well as pelagic respiration rates (O2 incubations). The magnitude of the biological and carbonate carbon fluxes will be synthesized and discussed in the light of biogeochemical parameters, such as Transparent Exopolymer Particles (TEP), chlorophyll-a, particulate carbon concentrations, particle dynamics and particulate organic carbon export (deduced from 234Th fluxes). Additional information on the bloom biogeochemistry will be presented (activity of dissolved esterase enzymes and bacterial community structure) to emphasize the importance of coccolithophorid blooms in the contemporary carbon cycle