TY - JOUR
T1 - Turnover time of fluorescent dissolved organic matter in the dark global ocean
AU - Catalá, Teresa Serrano
AU - Reche, Isabel
AU - Fuentes-Lema, Antonio
AU - Romera-Castillo, Cristina
AU - Nieto-Cid, Mar
AU - Ortega-Retuerta, Eva
AU - Calvo, Eva
AU - Alvarez, Marta
AU - Marrase, Celia
AU - Stedmon, Colin
AU - Alvarez-Salgado, X. Anton
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) is one of the largest reservoirs of reduced carbon on Earth. In the dark ocean (>200 m), most of this carbon is refractory DOM. This refractory DOM, largely produced during microbial mineralization of organic matter, includes humic-like substances generated in situ and detectable by fluorescence spectroscopy. Here we show two ubiquitous humic-like fluorophores with turnover times of 435±41 and 610±55 years, which persist significantly longer than the ~350 years that the dark global ocean takes to renew. In parallel, decay of a tyrosine-like fluorophore with a turnover time of 379±103 years is also detected. We propose the use of DOM fluorescence to study the cycling of resistant DOM that is preserved at centennial timescales and could represent a mechanism of carbon sequestration (humic-like fraction) and the decaying DOM injected into the dark global ocean, where it decreases at centennial timescales (tyrosine-like fraction)
AB - Marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) is one of the largest reservoirs of reduced carbon on Earth. In the dark ocean (>200 m), most of this carbon is refractory DOM. This refractory DOM, largely produced during microbial mineralization of organic matter, includes humic-like substances generated in situ and detectable by fluorescence spectroscopy. Here we show two ubiquitous humic-like fluorophores with turnover times of 435±41 and 610±55 years, which persist significantly longer than the ~350 years that the dark global ocean takes to renew. In parallel, decay of a tyrosine-like fluorophore with a turnover time of 379±103 years is also detected. We propose the use of DOM fluorescence to study the cycling of resistant DOM that is preserved at centennial timescales and could represent a mechanism of carbon sequestration (humic-like fraction) and the decaying DOM injected into the dark global ocean, where it decreases at centennial timescales (tyrosine-like fraction)
U2 - 1038/ncomms6986
DO - 1038/ncomms6986
M3 - Journal article
VL - 6
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
SN - 2041-1723
M1 - 6986
ER -