Alkenone and alkenoate distributions within the euphotic zone of the eastern North Atlantic: correlation with production temperature

This paper reports the concentrations and within-class distributions of long-chain alkenones and alkyl alkenoates in the surface waters (0–50 m) of the eastern North Atlantic, and correlates their abundance and distribution with those of source organisms and with water temperature and other environmental variables. We collected these samples of >0.8 μm particulate material from the euphotic zone along the JGOFS 20°W longitude transect, from 61°N to 24°N, during seven cruises of the UK-JGOFS Biogeochemical Ocean Flux Study (BOFS) in 1989–1991; the biogeographical range of our 53 samples extends from the cold (<10°C), nutrient-rich and highly productive subarctic waters of the Iceland Basin to the warm (>25°C) oligotrophic subtropical waters off Africa. Surface water concentrations of total alkenone and alkenoates ranged from <50 ng l −1 in oligotrophic waters below 40°N to 2000–4500 ng l −1 in high latitude E. huxleyi blooms, and were well correlated with E. huxleyi cell densities, supporting the assumption that E. huxleyi is the predominant source of these compounds in the present day North Atlantic. The within-class distribution of the C 37 and C 38 alkenones and C 36 alkenoates varied strongly as a function of temperature, and was largely unaffected by nutrient concentration, bloom status and other surface water properties. The biosynthetic response of the source organisms to growth temperature differed between the cold (<16°C) waters above 47°N and the warmer waters to the south. In cold (<16°C) waters above 47°N, the relative amounts of alkenoates and C 38 alkenones synthesized was a strong function of growth temperature, while the unsaturation ratio of the alkenones (C 37 and C 38 ) was uncorrelated with temperature. Conversely, in warm (>16°C) waters below 47°N, the relative proportions of alkenoates and alkenones synthesized remained constant with increasing temperature while the unsaturation ratios of the C 37 and C 38 methyl alkenones ( U 37 k and U 38Me k, respectively) increased linearly. The fitted regressions of U 37 k and U 38Me k versus temperature for waters >16°C were both highly significant ( r 2 > 0.96) and had identical slopes (0.057) that were 50% higher than the slope (0.034) of the temperature calibration of U 37 k reported by Prahl and Wakeham ( Nature, 330, 367–369, 1987) over the same temperature range. These observations suggest either a physiological adjustment in biochemical response to growth temperature above a 16–17°C threshold and/or variation between different E. huxleyi strains and/or related species inhabiting the cold and warm water regions of the eastern North Atlantic. Using our North Atlantic data set, we have produced multivariate temperature calibrations incorporating all major features of the alkenone and alkenoate data set. Predicted temperatures using multivariate calibrations are largely unbiased, with a standard error of approximately ±1°C over the entire data range. In contrast, simpler calibration models cannot adequately incorporate regional diversity and nonlinear trends with temperature. Our results indicate that calibrations based upon single variables, such as U 37 k, can be strongly biased by unknown systematic errors arising from natural variability in the biosynthetic response of the source organisms to growth temperature. Multivariate temperature calibration can be expected to give more precise estimates of Integrated Production Temperatures (IPT) in the sedimentary record over a wider range of paleoenvironmental conditions, when derived using a calibration data set incorporating a similar range of natural variability in biosynthetic response.