Cycling of lithogenic marine particles in the US GEOTRACES North Atlantic transect

Abstract

In this paper, we present, describe, and model the first size-fractionated (0.8–51 µm; >51 µm) water-column particulate trace metal results from the US GEOTRACES North Atlantic Zonal Transect in situ pumping survey, with a focus on the lithogenic tracer elements Al, Fe and Ti. This examination of basin-wide, full-depth distributions of particulate elements elucidates many inputs and processes—some for bulk lithogenic material, others element-specific—which are presented via concentration distributions, elemental ratios, size-fractionation dynamics, and steady-state inventories. Key lithogenic inputs from African dust, North American boundary interactions, the Mediterranean outflow, hydrothermal systems, and benthic nepheloid layers are described. Using the refractory lithogenic tracer Ti, we develop a 1-D model for lithogenic particle distributions and test the sensitivities of size-fractionated open-ocean particulate Ti profiles to biotically driven aggregation, disaggregation rates, vertical sinking speeds, and dust input rates. We discuss applications of this lithogenic model to particle cycling in general, and to POC cycling specifically.