Respiration rate scales inversely with sinking speed of settling marine aggregates

Abstract

Sinking marine aggregates have been studied for a long time to understand their role in carbon sequestration. Traditionally, sinking speed and respiration rates have been treated as independent variables, but two recent papers suggest that there is a connection albeit in contrasting directions. Here we collected recently formed (100 m d-1) was 0.12 d-1 ± 0.08 d-1 (SD). Slower sinking aggregates (<50 m d-1) had on average higher (p <0.001) and more variable respiration rates (average 0.31 d-1 ± 0.16 d-1, SD). There was evidence that slower sinking aggregates had higher porosity than fast sinking aggregates, and we hypothesize that higher porosity increase the settlement area for bacteria and the respiration rate. These findings provide insights into the efficiency of the biological carbon pump and help resolve the apparent discrepancy in the recent studies of the correlation between respiration and sinking speed.