A COMPARISON OF SEDIMENT TRAP RECORDS OF PARTICLE FLUXES FROM 19-DEGREES-N TO 48-DEGREES-N IN THE NORTHEAST ATLANTIC AND THEIR RELATION TO SURFACE-WATER PRODUCTIVITY

Sediment trap data from four sites in the northeast Atlantic (48 degre es N 20 degrees W, 28 degrees N 22 degrees W, 24 degrees N 23 degrees W, 19 degrees N 20 degrees W) are presented for fluxes of total mass, organic matter, calcium carbonate, opal and lithogenous material. The results from these sites are compared with other published sediment tr ap data from this;area to consider regional scale Variations in the qu antity and composition of settling ocean particulate matter along a tr ansect at 20 degrees W from 48 degrees N to 19 degrees N. There are cl early gradients of decreasing mass flux going south from 48 degrees N which reverse around 25-30 degrees N to increase again toward the Nort h Africa upwelling regime. Flux seasonality is greater at the more nor thern sites. Opal fluxes are high at the more northern sites and the f lux of lithogenic material is greater further south. Plankton species composition also changes along the transect. The changes in the mass a nd composition of sedimenting material along the transect are consiste nt with known changes in surface water plankton abundance and with flu xes inferred from sediment core results. Carbon fluxes measured by sed iment traps and inferred from sediment core data in this area appear t o be consistent with one another. These results provide increased conf idence in the use of Various ocean flux measurement techniques to deri ve estimates of ocean carbon cycling. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd.