Coupling Carbon Flow Through Some Pelagic and Benthic Communities

Abstract

Sediment core oxygen uptake is correlated positively with primary production and inversely with mixed-layer depth in various aquatic ecosystems for which the input of organic matter is predominantly autochthonous. In these areas organic carbon sedimentation is proportional to the ratio of carbon input: mixed-layer depth, which reflects increased mineralization with increased depth of mixing. The ratio of primary production: mixed-layer depth is compared with the carbon equivalent of oxygen uptake by sediments to derive an expression which is used to calculate the amount of photosynthetically fixed carbon respired at the sediment surface.