Bacterial Control of Silicon Regeneration in the Ocean

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ABSTRACTOCE-9904410A very large fraction of the downward fluxes of biogenic silica and organic matter in the ocean are derived from the productivity of diatoms in the surface ocean. Not surprisingly then, there is much interest in understanding what controls diatom productivity, including mechanisms for recycling silica from sinking, decomposing particles back to growing diatoms. In this project researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of California at Santa Barbara will study contribution of bacteria-mediated silica dissolution to total biogenic silica dissolution by measuring Si dissolution under conditions where bacterial processes have been selectively inhibited. The contribution of bacteria-mediated dissolution to biogenic silica production would be determined at the same time. Radio- (32Si) and stable isotope techniques developed through recent NSF grants would be used to attain high sensitivity and precision.