Uncertainties of particulate organic carbon concentrations in the mesopelagic zone of the Atlantic ocean

Abstract

Measurements of particulate organic carbon (POC) in the open ocean provide grounds for estimating oceanic carbon budgets and for modelling carbon cycling. The majority of the published POC measurements have been collected at the sea surface. Thus, POC stocks in the upper layer of the water column are relatively well constrained. However, our understanding of the POC distribution and its dynamics in deeper areas is still modest due to insufficient POC measurements. Moreover, the uncertainty of published POC estimates is not always quantified, and neither is it fully understood. In this study, we determined the POC concentrations of samples collected in the upper 500 m during an Atlantic Meridional Transect and described a method for quantifying its experimental uncertainties using duplicate measurements. The analysis revealed that the medians of the total experimental uncertainties associated with our POC concentrations in the productive and mesopelagic zones were 2(±2) mg/m3 and 3(±1) mg/m3, respectively. In relative terms, these uncertainties corresponded to ∼12% and ∼35% of POC concentrations, respectively. We modelled the POC uncertainty in order to identify its main causes. This model however could explain only ∼19% of the experimental POC uncertainty. Potential sources of the unexplained uncertainty are discussed.