Biogeochemical characteristics of suspended particulate matter in deep chlorophyll maximum layers in the southern East China Sea

Continental shelves and marginal seas are key sites of particulate organic matter (POM) production, remineralization and sequestration, playing an important role in the global carbon cycle. Elemental and stable isotopic compositions of organic carbon and nitrogen are thus frequently used to characterize and distinguish POM and its sources in suspended particles and surface sediments in the marginal seas. Here we investigated suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected around deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) layers in the southern East China Sea for particulate organic carbon and nitrogen (POC and PN) contents and their isotopic compositions (delta C-13(POC) and delta N-15(PN) ) to understand provenance and dynamics of POM. Hydrographic parameters (temperature, salinity and turbidity) indicated that the study area was weakly influenced by freshwater derived from the Yangtze River during summer 2013. Elemental and isotopic results showed a large variation in delta C-13(POC) (-25.8 to -18.2 %(0)) and delta N-15(PN) (3.8 to 8.0 %(0)), but a narrow molar C / N ratio (4.1-6.3) and low POC / Chl a ratio (< 200 g g(-1) )in POM, and indicated that the POM in DCM layers was newly produced by phytoplankton. In addition to temperature effects, the range and distribution of delta C-13(POC) were controlled by variations in primary productivity and phytoplankton species composition; the former explained similar to 70% of the variability in delta C-13(POC). However, the variation in delta N-15(PN) was controlled by the nutrient status and delta N-15(NO3)- in seawater, as indicated by similar spatial distribution between delta N-15(PN) and the current pattern and water masses in the East China Sea; although interpretations of delta N-15(PN) data should be verified with the nutrient data in future studies. Furthermore, the POM investigated was weakly influenced by the terrestrial OM supplied by the Yangtze River during summer 2013 due to the reduced sediment supply by the Yangtze River and north-eastward transport of riverine particles to the northern East China Sea. We demonstrated that the composition of POM around DCM layers in the southern East China Sea is highly dynamic and largely driven by phytoplankton abundance. Nonetheless, additional radiocarbon and biomarker data are needed to re-evaluate whether or not the POM around the DCM water depths is influenced by terrestrial OM in the river-dominated East China Sea.