Disentangling Biological Transformations and Photodegradation Processes from Marine Dissolved Organic Matter Composition in the Global Ocean

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) holds the largest amount of organic carbon in the ocean, with most of it residing in the deep for millennia. Specific mechanisms and environmental conditions responsible for its longevity are still unknown. Microbial transformations and photochemical degradation of DOM in the surface layers are two processes that shape its molecular composition. We used molecular data (via Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry) from two laboratory experiments that focused on (1) microbial processing of fresh DOM and (2) photodegradation of deep-sea DOM to derive independent process-related molecular indices for biological formation and transformation (Ibio) and photodegradation (Iphoto). Both indices were applied to a global ocean data set of DOM composition. The distributions of Iphoto and Ibio were consistent with increased photodegradation and biological reworking of DOM in sunlit surface waters, and traces of these surface processes were evident at depth. Increased Ibio values in the deep Southern Ocean and South Atlantic implied export of microbially reworked DOM. Photodegraded DOM (increased Iphoto) in the deep subtropical gyres of Atlantic and Pacific oceans suggested advective transport in warm-core eddies. The simultaneous application of Iphoto and Ibio disentangled and assessed two processes that left unique molecular signatures in the global ocean.