Zooplankton biovolume time series at station STARESO (Bay of Calvi, Corsica)

A long-term time series of subsurface zooplankton is performed in the oligotrophic Bay of Calvi (Corsica, Ligurian Sea, NW Mediterranean) from 2003 onwards. It is carried out from the marine station STARESO and is based on weekly measurement of zooplankton biovolumes. The main objectives are (i) to determine the seasonal cycle and inter-annual variability of the organisms, (ii) to study the dynamics of the populations, and (iii) to understand zooplankton interactions with other co-sampled hydrographic, meteorological and phytoplankton variables at the site.

Iodine speciation at time series station DYFAMED

Iodine speciation analysis was carried out upon seawater samples collected in July 1993 at the DYFAMED station (43 °25?N, 7 °52?E) located in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Dissolved iodate and iodide were directly determined by differential pulse polarography and cathodic stripping square wave voltammetry, respectively, and organically bound iodine was estimated by wet-chemical oxidation with sodium hypochlorite. Iodate is the predominant species ranging from 416 nM in surface waters to 480 nM in bottom waters. Iodide is present in significant concentrations up to 60 nM in surface waters, undetectable between 500 and 1000 m depth and present in very low but measurable concentrations (about 6 nM) in deep waters. The vertical profile of total free iodine demonstrates observable removal from surface waters, slight enrichment at about 200 m depth and constant there below. Up to 40 nM of organically bound iodine has been estimated between 20 to 30 m. Factorial analysis of different iodine species with biologically relevant parameters provided strong evidence for iodine biophilic features.

Absorption coefficients of particulate matter and chlorophyll a concentrations at time series station OLIPAC

Spectral absorption coefficients of total particulate matter ap (lambda) were determined using the in vitro filter technique. The present analysis deals with a set of 1166 spectra, determined in various oceanic (case 1) waters, with field chl a concentrations ([chl]) spanning 3 orders of magnitude (0.02-25 mg/m**3). As previously shown [Bricaud et al., 1995, doi:10.1029/95JC00463] for the absorption coefficients of living phytoplankton a phi (lamda), the ap (labda) coefficients also increase nonlinearly with [chl]. The relationships (power laws) that link ap (lambda) and a phi (lambda) to [chl] show striking similarities. Despite large fluctuations, the relative contribution of nonalgal particles to total absorption oscillates around an average value of 25-30% throughout the [chl] range. The spectral dependence of absorption by these nonalgal particles follows an exponential increase toward short wavelengths, with a weakly variable slope (0.011 ± 0.0025/nm). The empirical relationships linking ap (lambda) to ([chl]) can be used in bio-optical models. This parameterization based on in vitro measurements leads to a good agreement with a former modeling of the diffuse attenuation coefficient based on in situ measurements. This agreement is worth noting as independent methods and data sets are compared. It is stressed that for a given ([chl]), the ap (lambda) coefficients show large residual variability around the regression lines (for instance, by a factor of 3 at 440 nm). The consequences of such a variability, when predicting or interpreting the diffuse reflectance of the ocean, are examined, according to whether or not these variations in ap are associated with concomitant variations in particle scattering. In most situations the deviations in ap actually are not compensated by those in particle scattering, so that the amplitude of reflectance is affected by these variations.

Dissolved organic carbon measured on water bottle samples at time series station DYFAMED

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) distribution and dynamics are investigated at the DYFAMED site (central Ligurian Sea, NW Mediterranean) in relation to hydrological and biological contexts, using a 4-year time-series dataset (1991-1994). The DYFAMED site is regarded as a one-dimensional station where simple hydrological mechanisms prevail and where the ecosystem is quite well understood. An average vertical profile of DOC concentration ([DOC]) indicates that maximal concentrations and variability are concentrated in the surface layers. For depths >800 m, the annual variations are on average similar to the analytical standard deviation (~2 µM). The "composite" [DOC] distribution (average distribution over a typical year, integrating about 40 monthly profiles) for surface waters (0-200 m) is closely related to hydrological and phytoplanktonic forcings. It exhibits summer DOC accumulation in surface waters, due to spring-summer stratification and successive phytoplanktonic events such as spring and summer blooms, and winter DOC removal to deeper waters, due to intense vertical mixing. The analysis of vertical [DOC] gradient at 100-m depth as a function of the integrated DOC content in the 0-100-m layer makes it possible to objectively distinguish three specific periods: the winter vertical mixing period, the period of stratification and spring phytoplankton bloom, and the period of stratification re-inforcement and summer-fall phytoplankton bloom. We recalculate the vertical DOC fluxes to deep waters using a larger original dataset, after the first direct calculation (Deep-Sea Res. 40 (10) (1993) 1963, 1972) that was reproduced for other oceanic areas. The seasonal variations of the "composite" [DOC] distribution in surface waters are significantly correlated to the apparent oxygen utilization distribution, but the biogeochemical significance of such a correlation is still under examination. The global significance of our local findings is presented and the role of the oceanic DOC in the global carbon cycle is emphasized, especially with respect to several current issues, such as the oceanic "missing sink" and the equivalence between new production and exported production.