Early season mesopelagic carbon remineralization and transfer efficiency in the naturally iron-fertilized Kerguelen area

Abstract. We report on the zonal variability of mesopelagic particulate organic carbon) remineralization and deep carbon transfer potential during the Kerguelen Ocean and Plateau compared Study 2 expedition (KEOPS 2; October–November 2011) in an area of the Polar Front supporting recurrent massive blooms from natural Fe fertilization. Mesopelagic carbon remineralization was assessed using the excess, non-lithogenic particulate barium (Baxs) inventories in mesopelagic waters and compared with surface primary and export productions. Results for this early season study are compared with results obtained earlier (2005; KEOPS 1) for the same area during summer. For the Kerguelen plateau (A3 site) we observe a similar functioning of the mesopelagic ecosystem during both seasons (spring and summer), with less that 30% of carbon exported from the upper 150 m being remineralized in the mesopelagic column (150–400 m). For deeper stations (> 2000 m) located on the margin, inside a Polar Front meander, as well as in the vicinity of the Polar Front, east of Kerguelen, remineralization in the upper 400 m in general represents > 30% of carbon export, but when considering the upper 800 m, in some cases, the entire flux of exported carbon is remineralized. It appears that above the plateau (A3 site) mesopelagic remineralization is not a major barrier to the transfer of organic matter to the sea-floor (close to 500 m). There the efficiency of carbon sequestration into the bottom waters (> 400 m) reached up to 87% of the carbon exported from the upper 150 m. In contrast, at the deeper locations mesopelagic remineralization clearly limits the sequestration of carbon to depths > 400 m. For sites at the margin of the plateau (station E-4W) and the Polar front (station F-L), mesopelagic remineralization even exceeds upper 150 m export, resulting in a null sequestration efficiency to depths > 800 m. In the Polar Front meander, where successive stations form a time series, the capacity of the meander to transfer carbon to depth > 800 m is highly variable (0 to 73 %). The highest carbon transfer efficiencies in the meander are furthermore coupled to intense and complete deep (> 800 m) remineralization, resulting again in a close to zero deep (> 2000 m) carbon sequestration efficiency there.