Burial, remineralization and utilization of organic matter at the sea floor under a strong western boundary current. Final report, May 1, 1992--April 30, 1995

The overall goals of this project were to quantify the rates of organic carbon export from the southern mid-Atlantic Bight and to quantify the rates at which carbon is exchanged between the inorganic and organic pools within the bottom sediments. This information is necessary to constrain the role of the oceans in the control of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere in association with energy production. During this project, in situ benthic flux chamber incubations have been performed at six sites on the continental slope and rise adjacent to Cape Hatteras. Based on the analysis of the time-series samples recovered during each experiment, the sea floor exchange rates of the major biogenic elements, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon were calculated. From the estimated benthic flux rates and the ancillary pore water and sediment analyses, the deposition, remineralization and burial rates of organic carbon to the sea floor in this area was evaluated. This information has been incorporated into regional and global assessments of organic carbon fluxes to the deep sea