Changes in buoyancy and chemical composition during growth of a coastal marine diatom: ecological and biogeochemical consequences

Abstract

Calculations show that intracellular density and cell sinking rate should change substantially due to fluctuations in carbohydrate. Changes in the buoyancy of small (15 μm) diatoms such as Thalassiosira weissflogii in response to changes in nutrient status have important ecological and biogeochemical implications. Nutrient-dependent changes in sinking rates can result in increased residence time of cells in the mixed layers of the ocean, and in enhanced transport of deep nutrients to the euphotic zone uncoupled from inputs of inorganic carbon. -from Authors