Abstract
THE melting of ice sheets during deglaciation results in the injection of large amounts of fresh water into the oceans1. To investigate how such injections might influence particle fluxes in the ocean, and hence the uptake of atmospheric CO2, we deployed three sediment-trap moorings (two traps in each mooring) in the northern, central and southern parts of the Bay of Bengal, respectively. The Bay of Bengal is suitable for such a study, because some of the world's largest rivers2 supply pulses of fresh water and sediment to the bay, resulting in large seasonal changes in surface salinity3. We find that the maximum river discharge, which occurs during the southwest monsoon, coincides with the maximum observed flux of participate matter. From north to south, the carbonate flux increases, whereas fluxes of opal, organic carbon and particulate matter decrease. The overall flux pattern seems to be controlled by the seasonally varying input from the rivers and the accompanying shift in marine biogenic production. We conclude that fresh-water pulses during deglaciation may therefore have caused similar shifts in marine biogenic production, resulting in short-term episodes of increased oceanic uptake of atmospheric CO2.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Fairbanks, R. G. Nature 342, 637–642 (1989).
Milliman, J. D. & Meade, R. H. Geology 91, 1–21 (1983).
Wyrtki, K. Oceanographic Atlas of the International Indian Ocean Expedition (National Science Foundation, Washington DC, 1971).
LaViolette, P. E. Temperature, Salinity and Density of the World's Seas: Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, Informal Rep. No. 67–57 (Naval Oceanographic Office, Washington DC 1967).
Deuser, W. G., Muller-Karger, F. E. & Hembleben, C. J. geophys. Res. 93, 6857–6862 (1988).
Muller-Karger, F. E., McLain, C. R. & Richardson, P. L. Nature 333, 56–59 (1988).
Ramaswamy, V., Nair, R. R., Manganini, S., Haake, B. & Ittekkot, V. Deep-Sea Res. 38, 169–184 (1991).
Haake, B. & Ittekkot, V. Naturwissenschaften 77, 75–79 (1990).
Honjo, S. in Polar Oceanography (ed. Smith, W. O. Jr) 687–739 (Academic, New York, 1990).
Nair, R. R. et al. Nature 338, 749–751 (1989).
Berger, W. H. & Keir, R. S. in The Carbon Cycle and Atmospheric CO2: Natural Variations Archaen to Present (eds Sundquist, E. & Brocker, W. S.) 337–351 (American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 1985).
Ittekkot, V. & Zhang, S. Global biogeochem. Cycles 3, 383–391 (1989).
Dymond, J. & Lyle, M. Limnol. Oceanogr. 30, 699–712 (1985).
Honjo, 1982 Science 218, 883–885 (1982).
Deuser, W. G., Brewer, P. G., Jickells, T. D. & Commeau, R. D. Science 214, 388–391 (1983).
Walsh, I., Dymond, J. & Collier, R. Deep-Sea Res. 35, 43–58 (1988).
Honjo, S. & Doherty, K. W. Deep-Sea Res. 35, 133–149 (1988).
Discharge of Selected Rivers of the World (UNESCO, Paris, 1979).
Honjo, S., Manganini, S. J. & Cole, J. J. Deep-Sea Res. 29, 609–625 (1982).
Michaelis, W. & Ittekkot, V. in Transport of Carbon and Minerals in World Rivers Part 1 (ed. Degens, E. T.) 233–243 (Miit. Geol. Palontol. Inst. Univ. Hamburg, SCOPE/UNEP Sonderbd. 52, 1982).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ittekkot, V., Nair, R., Honjo, S. et al. Enhanced particle fluxes in Bay of Bengal induced by injection of fresh water. Nature 351, 385–387 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/351385a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/351385a0
This article is cited by
-
Intrusion of Arabian Sea high salinity water and monsoon-associated processes modulate planktic foraminiferal abundance and carbon burial in the southwestern Bay of Bengal
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2024)
-
Isotopic Composition of Carbon and Nitrogen of Particulate Organic Matter in the Godavari Estuary: Seasonality in Sources and Processes
Estuaries and Coasts (2024)
-
Significance of Physico-Chemical and Biological Parameters on Spatio-Temporal PCO2 Distribution in the Northeastern Indian Ocean
Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing (2023)
-
Epipelagic mesozooplankton communities in the northeastern Indian Ocean off Myanmar during the winter monsoon
Acta Oceanologica Sinica (2023)
-
Heavy metals concentration in zooplankton (copepods) in the western Bay of Bengal
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2023)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.