Sources and behaviors of particulate organic carbon, iron, and manganese in the bottom nepheloid layer of the southwestern East Sea (Japan Sea)

The sources and behaviors of particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate iron and manganese (pFe and pMn, respectively) in the bottom nepheloid layer (or benthic nepheloid layer, BNL) of the southwestern East Sea, also known as the Japan Sea, along a transect from the shelf to the central Ulleung Basin were investigated. The fluxes of POC, pFe, and pMn from the BNL to the seafloor on the shelf and in the basin were determined based on thorium-234 (²³⁴Th). The influence of resuspended sediment on POC was quantified using radiocarbon isotope ratio of POC (Δ¹⁴C). Sources and behaviors of pFe and pMn in the BNL were investigated by comparison to those of particulate aluminum (pAl). The stable carbon isotope ratios mainly indicated the marine origin of the POC, and the Δ¹⁴C values indicated that the majority of the POC in the BNL (68% ± 22%) was supplied by sediment resuspension. pAl and pFe were lithogenic in origin, whereas pMn was mainly authigenic (89–100%). The deficiency of ²³⁴Th activity relative to that of ²³⁸U increased toward the seafloor in the BNL, implying the efficient removal of ²³⁴Th by adsorption to the resuspended sediment particles. The ²³⁴Th-based settling fluxes of POC, pAl, pFe, and excess Mn (pMn_xs) to the seafloor in the central basin agreed with the results previously obtained from a sediment trap study in the Ulleung Basin. The settling flux of pAl and pFe in the central basin was 2–8% of the lateral transport from the Korea Strait, implying that the transported lithogenic particles mostly settled on the slope before reaching the central basin. In contrast, the settling flux of pMn in the central basin was much larger than that of pMn in the shelf, implying that pMn is further transported toward the central basin or supplied from the local sediments.