A Multi-Omics Approach to Quantifying Eddy-driven Dissolved Organic Carbon Export in an Oligotrophic Ocean

The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool, which is released and recycled by marine microbes, constitutes a major reservoir for carbon in the ocean. In the western subtropical North Atlantic, time-series data has shown the accumulation of DOC in the surface ocean in the summertime, which is then introduced to the ocean interior through deep convective mixing in the wintertime. However, ocean eddies have been shown to contribute to particulate organic carbon export and likely also transport dissolved organic carbon to the mesopelagic on sub-seasonal timescales throughout the year. Here, we use a multi-omics approach to observationally demonstrate how microbial community structure and DOC cycling vary across an ocean eddy and to estimate the contribution of eddy subduction to DOC export in the oligotrophic North Atlantic. Taxonomic information from metabarcoding data is complemented by metaproteomics, metatranscriptomics, and metabolomics to interrogate how the metabolic function of these communities varies across an eddy. We compare and interpret our findings with a coupled physical-biogeochemical model for the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) region to evaluate whether observed patterns align with mechanistic predictions.

Presentation Preference: Poster

Primary Presenter: Emily Hu, Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet (emily.hu.899@gmail.com)

Authors:

Emily Hu, Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet  (emily_hu@brown.edu)

Arianna Krinos, Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet  (arianna_krinos@brown.edu)

Mara Freilich, Brown University  (mara_freilich@brown.edu)

Katarina Merk, Brown University  (katarina_merk@brown.edu)

John Breier, University of Texas  (john.breier@utrgv.edu)

Sonya Dyhrman, Columbia University  (sdyhrman@ldeo.columbia.edu)

Annika Gomez, Columbia University  (alg2279@columbia.edu)

Natalie Graham, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute  (natalie.graham@whoi.edu)

Michael Jakuba, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution  (mjakuba@whoi.edu)

Heather Kim, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute  (hkim@whoi.edu)

Irina Koester, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute  (irina.koester@whoi.edu)

Elizabeth Kujawinski, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute  (ekujawinski@whoi.edu)

Shun Mao, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute  (shun.mao@whoi.edu)

Erin Maybach, Columbia University  (emaybach@ldeo.columbia.edu)

Mak Saito, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute  (msaito@whoi.edu)

Rachel Sandquist, University of California, Santa Barbara  (rasandquist@ucsb.edu)

Fadime Stemmer, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute  (fadime.stemmer@whoi.edu)