Upward transport of oceanic nitrate by migrating diatom mats

Abstract

The oligotrophic gyres of the open sea are home to a flora that includes the largest known phytoplankton. These rare species migrate as solitary cells or aggregations (mats) between deep nutrient pools (below 80–100 m) and the surface. This migration contributes to new production because of the concomitant upward transport of nitrate^1,2,3. But just how significant this contribution is remains uncertain because of the difficulty of making quantitative measurements of these rare cells⁴. Here we report remote video observations of a previously undersampled class of diatom (Rhizosolenia) mats throughout the upper 150 m of the central North Pacific Ocean. These mats are virtually invisible to divers, and their presence increases the calculated phytoplankton-mediated nitrate transport into the surface ocean by up to a factor of eight. Cruise averages indicate that Rhizosolenia mats transport 18–97 µmol N m⁻² d⁻¹; however, this value reached 171 μmol N m⁻² d⁻¹ at individual stations, a value equivalent to 59% of the export production⁵. Although considerable temporal and spatial variability occurs, this means of upward nutrient transport appears to be an important source of new nitrogen to the surface ocean, and may contribute to other regional elemental cycles as well⁶.