Variation in Different Marine Environments Case Studies

2 Variation in Different Marine Environments Case Studies 

We already emphasized the importance of oxic respiration over other pathways in the deep-sea. Denitrification (or related processes) only account for a few percent of the carbon oxidation rate by 

Since microelectrode measurements are limited to a few centimeters of sediment depth, oxygen penetration depths have been difficult to obtain in strongly oligotrophic areas until the late 1990s. The invention of optode techniques, however, allows measurements up to several decimeters into the sediment (Fig. 6.22). The example is from a station located in the oligotrophic western equatorial Atlantic. 

More recently Setter et al (2005) refined this approach based on a much larger data set  

Similarly, their approach considers depleted oxygen levels in the bottom water and the accumulation of organic matter above a certain threshold value [TOC]j., which has a global mean of about 0.6 wt.% (Setter et al. 2005). 

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