TY - JOUR
T1 - Cadmium and phosphorus cycling in the water column of the South China Sea
T2 - The roles of biotic and abiotic particles
AU - Ho, Tung Yuan
AU - You, Chen Feng
AU - Chou, Wen Chen
AU - Pai, Su Cheng
AU - Wen, Liang Saw
AU - Sheu, David D.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the personnel of the sediment trap laboratory of the National Sun Yat-Sen University, in particular Hui-Ling Lin and Francy Kuo, who were in charge of deploying the sediment traps and collecting the trap samples in the South China Sea. We thank W.-H. Lee and the personnel of the R/V Ocean Research 1 and R/V Ocean Research 3 for their assistance in sampling during the cruises and the research assistants at the Research Center for Environmental Changes (RCEC) for their help in laboratory analytical work. In particular, we thank Bing-Nan Wang, Wen-Chen Hsieh and Shiu-Ju Yang at the RCEC and Ying-Chun Lin at the Institute of Oceanography of the National Taiwan University for their assistance on the P analysis. This research was supported by grant numbers: NSC 93-2119-M-019-008, 94-2611-M-019-020, 97-2628-M-001-031 by the Taiwan National Science Council, and thematic project AFOBi of Academia Sinica. The RCEC publication number is RCEC-HO-9801.
PY - 2009/6/20
Y1 - 2009/6/20
N2 - The concentrations of cadmium, phosphorus, and aluminum in size-fractionated phytoplankton, zooplankton, and sinking particles are determined using ICPMS to evaluate the roles of biotic and abiotic particles on the cycling and ratios of Cd and P in the water column. Plankton were collected with a filtration apparatus equipped with 10-, 60-, and 150-μm aperture plankton nets on two occasions (2002 and 2006), and sinking particles were sampled by moored sediment traps deployed at depths of 120, 600, and 3500 m from 2004 to 2005. In contrast to what our previous study revealed, i.e., that most of the other bioactive trace metals in plankton were strongly correlated with abiotic Al and adsorbed on phytoplankton [Ho, T.Y., Wen, L.S., You, C.F., Lee, D.C., 2007. The trace metal composition of size-fractionated plankton in the South China Sea: biotic versus abiotic sources. Limnol Oceanogr 52, 1776-88.], Cd/P ratios, ranging from 0.12 to 0.34 mmol/mol P, did not vary with Al and exhibited fairly consistent values among different sizes of plankton, showing that Cd was mostly incorporated on an intracellular basis. In terms of the sinking particles, fluxes in Cd and P as well as in Cd/P ratios were strongly influenced by both biotic and abiotic particles. Overall, the Cd/P ratios in the sinking particles ranged from 0.03 to 1.2 mmol/mol, with the highest value observed in traps at 120 m during the productive season. The lowest value was observed in deep water during high flux periods for lithogenic particles. At surface depth, flux and Cd/P ratios were elevated during the most productive season in the region. The elevated ratios in the traps at 120 m were most likely related to preferential uptake of Cd for the dominant species (coccolithophores) during the productive period. Relatively, Cd/P ratios sharply decreased with increasing Al flux in deep water and ratios were much lower than the expected Cd/P ratios obtained from the relative portion of lithogenic and biogenic particles, indicating that the adsorption of soluble P into lithogenic particles was significant in the deep water during high lithogenic particle flux periods. Using averaged annual fluxes and standing stock in the water column, the residence time of biogenic Cd and P are 0.10 and 0.20, 250 and 100, and 9100 and 5000 years respectively in the top 120 m, 600 m, and water column as a whole, also showing preferential removal for Cd in the euphotic zone but relatively higher removal rates for P in the deep water. Our study suggests that the shift in microalgal community structure along with input of lithogenic minerals are both potentially important factors in influencing Cd/P ratios in oceanic water on a geological time scale.
AB - The concentrations of cadmium, phosphorus, and aluminum in size-fractionated phytoplankton, zooplankton, and sinking particles are determined using ICPMS to evaluate the roles of biotic and abiotic particles on the cycling and ratios of Cd and P in the water column. Plankton were collected with a filtration apparatus equipped with 10-, 60-, and 150-μm aperture plankton nets on two occasions (2002 and 2006), and sinking particles were sampled by moored sediment traps deployed at depths of 120, 600, and 3500 m from 2004 to 2005. In contrast to what our previous study revealed, i.e., that most of the other bioactive trace metals in plankton were strongly correlated with abiotic Al and adsorbed on phytoplankton [Ho, T.Y., Wen, L.S., You, C.F., Lee, D.C., 2007. The trace metal composition of size-fractionated plankton in the South China Sea: biotic versus abiotic sources. Limnol Oceanogr 52, 1776-88.], Cd/P ratios, ranging from 0.12 to 0.34 mmol/mol P, did not vary with Al and exhibited fairly consistent values among different sizes of plankton, showing that Cd was mostly incorporated on an intracellular basis. In terms of the sinking particles, fluxes in Cd and P as well as in Cd/P ratios were strongly influenced by both biotic and abiotic particles. Overall, the Cd/P ratios in the sinking particles ranged from 0.03 to 1.2 mmol/mol, with the highest value observed in traps at 120 m during the productive season. The lowest value was observed in deep water during high flux periods for lithogenic particles. At surface depth, flux and Cd/P ratios were elevated during the most productive season in the region. The elevated ratios in the traps at 120 m were most likely related to preferential uptake of Cd for the dominant species (coccolithophores) during the productive period. Relatively, Cd/P ratios sharply decreased with increasing Al flux in deep water and ratios were much lower than the expected Cd/P ratios obtained from the relative portion of lithogenic and biogenic particles, indicating that the adsorption of soluble P into lithogenic particles was significant in the deep water during high lithogenic particle flux periods. Using averaged annual fluxes and standing stock in the water column, the residence time of biogenic Cd and P are 0.10 and 0.20, 250 and 100, and 9100 and 5000 years respectively in the top 120 m, 600 m, and water column as a whole, also showing preferential removal for Cd in the euphotic zone but relatively higher removal rates for P in the deep water. Our study suggests that the shift in microalgal community structure along with input of lithogenic minerals are both potentially important factors in influencing Cd/P ratios in oceanic water on a geological time scale.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=69249208404&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=69249208404&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.marchem.2009.07.005
DO - 10.1016/j.marchem.2009.07.005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:69249208404
SN - 0304-4203
VL - 115
SP - 125
EP - 133
JO - Marine Chemistry
JF - Marine Chemistry
IS - 1-2
ER -