Abstract
Spatial and temporal variations in the vertical fluxes of amino acids and hexosamine were studied at coastal sites in the south of the Chukchi Sea, Otsuchi Bay, and the center and the entrance of Funka Bay. Amino acid fluxes were higher in the upper trap than in the lower trap material, but hexosamine fluxes were opposite to amino acid fluxes. The ratios between protein amino acids (Asp, Glu and Arg) and their decomposition products (β-Ala, γ-Aba and Orn) indicate that the labile organic matter was more abundant in the upper traps than in the lower ones and increased during periods of enhanced amino acid fluxes. The ratios of Ser/Gly did not vary temporally and spatially and were nearly constant, indicating that Ser and Gly were preserved in a stable form within sinking particles. Hexosamine/amino acid ratios of these particles were higher in the lower sediment trap than in the upper trap material. This implies that the sinking particles derived from zooplankton are relatively more abundant in deep layers than in the surface layer in the water column. We suggest that the difference in amino acid flux and the composition between the upper and lower trap material is influenced by the processes of microbial decomposition and zooplankton consumption of sinking particulate organic matter.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cowey, C. B. and E. D. S. Corner (1966): The amino-acid composition of certain unicellular algae, and of the faecal pellets produced by Calanus finmarchicus when feeding on them. p. 225–231. In Some Contemporary Studies in Marine Science, ed. by H. Barnes, G. Allen and Unwin, London.
Cowie, G. L. and J. I. Hedges (1992): Sources and reactivities of amino acids in a coastal marine environment. Limnol. Oceanogr., 37, 703–724.
Degens, E. T. and K. Mopper (1976): Factors controlling the distribution and early diagenesis of organic matter in marine sediments. p. 59–113. In Chemical Oceanography, Vol. 6, ed. by J. P. Riley and R. Chester, Academic Press, New York.
Gardner, W. D., M. J. Richardson, K. R. Hinga and P. E. Biscaye (1983): Resuspension measured with sediment traps in a high-energy environment. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 66, 262–278.
Gupta, L. P. and H. Kawahata (2000): Amino acid and hexosamine composition and flux of sinking particulate matter in the equatorial Pacific at 175°E longitude. Deep-Sea Res., 47, 1937–1960.
Haake, B., V. Ittekkot, V. Ramaswamy, R. R. Nair and S. Honjo (1992): Fluxes of amino acids and hexosamine to the deep Arabian Sea. Mar. Chem., 40, 291–314.
Haake, B., V. Ittekkot, S. Honjo and S. Manganini (1993): Amino acid, hexosamine and carbohydrate fluxes to the deep Subarctic Pacific (Station P). Deep-Sea Res., 40, 547–560.
Hashimoto, S. (1996): Study on dynamics of amino acid and hexosamine in sinking particles and the characteristics in the subarctic regions. Doctoral Dissertation, Hokkaido Univ., 136 pp. (in Japanese).
Hashimoto, S., Y. Maita, M. Yanada and K. Takahashi (1998): Annual and seasonal variations of amino acid and hexosamine fluxes in the deep Bering Sea and the deep central Subarctic Pacific. Deep-Sea Res., 45, 1029–1051.
Hecky, R. E. K. Mopper, P. Kilham and E. T. Degens (1973): The amino acid and sugar composition of diatom cell-walls. Mar. Biol., 19, 323–331.
Hedges, J. I., W. A. Clark and G. L. Cowie (1988): Fluxes and reactivities of organic matter in a coastal marine bay. Limnol. Oceanogr., 33, 1137–1152.
Hedges, J. I., J. A. Baldock, Y. Gélinas, C. Lee, M. Peterson and S. G. Wakeham (2001): Evidence for non-selective preservation of organic matter in sinking marine particles. Nature, 409, 801–804.
Ittekkot, V., E. T. Degens and S. Honjo (1984a): Seasonality in the fluxes of sugars, amino acids, and amino sugars to the deep ocean: Panama Basin. Deep-Sea Res., 31, 1071–1083.
Ittekkot, V., W. G. Deuser and E. T. Degens (1984b): Seasonality in the fluxes of sugars, amino acids, and amino sugars to the deep ocean: Sargasso Sea. Deep-Sea Res., 31, 1057–1069.
Lee, C. (1988): Amino acid and amine biogeochemistry in marine particulate material and sediments. p. 125–141. In Nitrogen Cycling in Coastal Marine Environments, ed. by T. H. Blackburn and J. Sørensen, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Lee, C. and C. Cronin (1982): The vertical flux of particulate organic nitrogen in the sea: decomposition of amino acids in the Peru upwelling area and the equatorial Atlantic. J. Mar. Res., 40, 227–251.
Lindroth, P. and K. Mopper (1979): High performance liquid chromatographic determination of subpicomole amounts of amino acids by precolumn fluorescence derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde. Anal. Chem., 51, 1667–1674.
Maita, Y. and T. Odate (1988): Seasonal changes in sizefractionated primary production and nutrient concentrations in the temperate neritic water of Funka Bay, Japan. J. Oceanogr. Soc. Japan, 44, 268–279.
Maita, Y., M. Yanada and A. Shiomoto (1986): Fluxes of particulate organic carbon and nitrogen in Funka Bay in autumn. Bull. Fac. Fish., Hokkaido Univ., 37, 124–133 (in Japanese with English abstract).
Mayzaud, P. and J.-L. M. Martin (1975): Some aspects of the biochemical and mineral composition of marine plankton. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 17, 297–310.
Montani, S. and T. Okaichi (1985): Amino acid variations in marine particles during sinking and sedimentation in Harima-Nada, the Seto Inland Sea. p. 15–27. In Marine and Estuarine Geochemistry, ed. by A. C. Sigleo and A. Hattori, Lewis Publishers Inc., Michigan.
Montani, S., Y. Maita and S. Fukase (1982): Possible occurrence of diatom cell wall-derived amino acids in Okhotsk Sea sediments. Geochem. J., 16, 259–262.
Müller, P. J., E. Suess and C. A. Ungerer (1986): Amino acids and amino sugars of surface particulate and sediment trap material from waters of the Scotia Sea. Deep-Sea Res., 33, 819–838.
Nakaoka, M. (1992): Spatial and seasonal variation in growth rate and secondary production of Yoldia notabilis in Otsuchi Bay, Japan, with reference to the influence of the food supply from the water column. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 88, 215–223.
Odate, T. (1992): Production ecology within the lower trophic levels in marine ecosystems. Mem. Fac. Fish. Hokkaido Univ., 39, 1–82.
Parsons, T. R., Y. Maita and C. M. Lalli (1984): A Manual of Chemical and Biological Methods for Seawater Analysis. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 173 pp.
Springer, A. M. and C. P. McRoy (1993): The paradox of pelagic food webs in the northern Bering Sea—III. Patterns of primary production. Cont. Shelf Res., 13, 575–599.
Steemann Nielsen, E. (1952): The use of radioactive carbon (C14) for measuring organic production in the sea. J. Cons. Int. Explor. Mer, 18, 117–140.
Taguchi, S. (1982): Sedimentation of newly produced particulate organic matter in a subtropical inlet, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Estsuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 14, 533–544.
Tanoue, E. and N. Handa (1980): Vertical transport of organic materials in the northern North Pacific as determined by sediment trap experiment. Part I. Fatty acid composition. J. Oceanogr. Soc. Japan, 36, 231–245.
Tsuda, A., H. Sugisaki, K. Takahashi and K. Furuya (1994): Succession of pelagic organisms in the size range 0.5-200 m during a diatom bloom in Otsuchi Bay, Japan. Estur. Coast. Shelf Sci., 31, 509–528.
Tsunogai, S., M. Uematsu, N. Tanaka, K. Harada, E. Tanoue and N. Handa (1980): A sediment trap experiment in Funka Bay, Japan: “upward flux” of particulate matter in seawater. Mar. Chem., 9, 321–334.
Yanada, M. and Y. Maita (2000): The relation between primary production and the flux of particulate organic matter in the sub-arctic coastal sea. p. 91–104. In Dynamics and Characterization of Marine Organic Matter, ed. by N. Handa, E. Tanoue and T. Hama, Terrapub, Tokyo.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hashimoto, S., Maita, Y. Fluxes of Amino Acid and Hexosamine in Sinking Particles in Subarctic and Arctic Coastal Regions. Journal of Oceanography 59, 731–738 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOCE.0000009601.57331.b3
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOCE.0000009601.57331.b3