Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Supplemental Files
• Related Publications
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Program Information
• Funding

Mass flux and concentrations of bulk components (Carbonate, Organic Carbon/Nitrogen, Lithogenics, Opal) and elements in the flux at 500m, 1500m and 3200m depths from the OFP sediment trap time-series in the northern Sargasso Sea.

Access restrictions:
If you plan to use this data, please contact me, Maureen H. Conte @ mconte@mbl.edu. For the OFP time-series records, it is extremely important that we have a record of how the data are utilized, and by whom to support continued OFP funding. Also, talking with me will ensure that you are clear about the data naming conventions, etc., and let you know if there are others using the data for similar research. I also can give you some valuable insights that should be valuable concerning the OFP flux data in general. Thank you! Maureen Conte, principal Investigator OFP time-series

Sampling and analytical methodology for carbonate, and organic carbon/nitrogen are described in detail in the "2019_OFP_Methodologies" document (see Supplemental Files).

Analytical methodology for the element data are described in detail in Conte et al. (2019).

The LiBO2 fusion method is described in detail in Huang et al. (2007).

Briefly, the dried <1mm sediment trap material is processed by fusion with high purity lithium metaborate (LiBO2) flux at 1000 C in a dedicated combustion furnace. The sample to LiBO2 flux ratio for fusion is approximately1:2.5. The fused sample bead is subsequently dissolved in 1M HNO3 for ICPMS analysis. From 2000 to 2004, we used 1–2 mg of flux material for analysis, but in 2005 we increased this to ~6 mg to reduce analytical variability associated with particle heterogeneity. Blank analyses of the LiBO2 flux are run with each sample set to assess contamination. The final sample solution was analyzed on a high-resolution Finnigan Element 2 ICPMS. A matrix-matching multi-element external standard solution was used for determination of the trace element concentrations.

Processing information is described in detail in the "2019_OFP_methodologies" document (see Supplemental Files).

BCO-DMO Processing:
- modified parameter names: replaced % with "pcnt", > with "gt", < with "lt", and hyphens with underscores;
- replaced missing data and values of "-999" with "nd" (no data).

NSF Award Abstract:
This award continues, for another three years, the Ocean Flux Program (OFP) that has been in continuous operation near Bermuda since 1978. The OFP time-series of particle fluxes in the deep Sargasso Sea has produced a unique record of the "biological pump," a term used to describe the sinking of biological material from the surface to the deep ocean. The OFP provided the first direct evidence for seasonal changes in the deep ocean and tight links between deep ocean and upper ocean processes. The OFP provides clear evidence for the intensity of biological activity throughout the ocean's interior and the roles of key processes in biogeochemical and elemental cycling. The time-series is becoming long enough to study flux variability in terms of ocean basin-scale forcing, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation. The OFP sample archives are an unparalleled resource for study of temporal trends and the biogeochemical consequences of changing ocean chemistry. Education provided by the OFP broadens the experiences and science directions of many students (high school to PhD levels) and early investigators at critical career junctures.

The OFP time-series is the longest of its kind and unique in its focus on the deep ocean. As the record lengthens, investigators are better able to put into perspective the observed flux patterns in terms of the interplay between climate and ocean functioning. Colocation of complementary time-series -- Hydrostation S, the Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series (BATS), the Bermuda Testbed Mooring (BTM, 1994-2007), the Tudor Hill atmospheric tower and other sampling conducted near the Bermuda Time-Series Site -- and continuing advances in instrumentation on the OFP mooring present unparalleled opportunities to study coupling among ocean physics, biology and chemistry and material fluxes, and flux linkages with atmospheric and climatic forcing. As ever more sophisticated analytical tools are used to probe the recovered flux materials, new data continue to reveal novel information about ocean processes.

(Adapted from the NSF Project Summary)

Since 1978, the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP), originally founded and managed by at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and now managed by the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science (BIOS), has continuously measured particle fluxes in the deep Sargasso Sea. The 35+ year OFP time-series is, by far, the longest of its kind and unique in its focus on the deep ocean. OFP has produced a unique, albeit "edited", record of temporal variability in the "biological pump", a term loosely applied here to material transfer from the surface to the deep ocean. The OFP provided the first direct evidence for seasonality in the deep ocean and the tight coupling between deep fluxes and upper ocean processes. It has provided clear evidence of the intensity of biological reprocessing of flux and scavenging of suspended material in mesopelagic waters. The record has documented interannual and longer variations in deep fluxes and shorter term fluctuations driven by the interactions between mesoscale physical variability, meteorological forcing and ecosystem responses.