Planktonic microbial signatures of sinking particle export in the open ocean’s interior

A considerable amount of particulate carbon produced by oceanic photosynthesis is exported to the deep-sea by the “gravitational pump” (~6.8 to 7.7 Pg C/year), sequestering it from the atmosphere for centuries. How particulate organic carbon (POC) is transformed during export to the deep sea however is not well understood. Here, we report that dominant suspended prokaryotes also found in sinking particles serve as informative tracers of particle export processes. In a three-year time series from oceanographic campaigns in the Pacific Ocean, upper water column relative abundances of suspended prokaryotes entrained in sinking particles decreased exponentially from depths of 75 to 250 m, conforming to known depth-attenuation patterns of carbon, energy, and mass fluxes in the epipelagic zone. Below ~250 m however, the relative abundance of suspended prokaryotes entrained in sinking particles increased with depth. These results indicate that microbial entrainment, colonization, and sinking particle formation are elevated at mesopelagic and bathypelagic depths. Comparison of suspended and sinking particle-associated microbes provides information about the depth-variability of POC export and biotic processes, that is not evident from biogeochemical data alone. Sinking of organic particles to the deep seafloor is fundamental to ocean carbon cycling. Here, the authors investigate prokaryotic communities in sinking and suspended particles, identifying depth-specific signatures of particle export and carbon cycling processes.