California Current Ecosystem LTER

Biogenic Silica (P1106)

Title
Biogenic silica standing stock and its rate of production and export in the offshore Southern California Current Ecosystem, 2011

Abstract
Here we report the complete results of a study on the cycling of biogenic silica (bSiO2) during the P1106 CCE Long Term Ecological Research process cruise examining process related to offshore fronts. Concentrations of bSiO2 varied by 25-fold across the front, with concentrations in frontal waters 20–25% of those in coastal waters. Rates of biogenic silica production spanned an equally large range, with rates within the frontal region that were half those in the coastal regions. The results suggest that the regions of frontal interactions between eddies in the southern CCE can account for variability in diatom biomass, productivity and export over very short spatial scales that is comparable to the variability observed across the Pacific basin. Chlorophyll a and nutrient data provided by Ralf Goericke, CCE LTER.

Keywords
silica, diatoms, silicon, production

Projects
California Current Ecosystem LTER

Creators
Krause, Jeffrey (jeffrey.krause@lifesci.ucsb.edu)

Contact
CCE LTER Information Manager (ccelter.im@gmail.com)

Data

table Biogenicsilicactdbottle
Main data table for dataset
Rows: 352
Columns: 41
View / Download

Methods


Manual Silicic Acid analysis
Formation and reduction of silicomolybic acid followed by manual colorimetric detection.

Biogenic silica standing stock
Sodium hydroxide digestion followed by manual silicic acid analysis of solubilized biogenic silica.

Biogenic silica production
Addition of radioactive silicon-32, incubation and filtration. Analysis of silicon-32 activity in particles using gas-flow proportional counting

References


Krause, J. W., M. A. Brzezinski, R. Goericke, M. R. Landry, M. D. Ohman, M. R. Stukel, and A. G. Taylor (2015), Variability in diatom contributions to biomass, organic matter production and export across a frontal gradient in the California Current Ecosystem, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 120, doi:10.1002/2014JC010472.