| Heterotrophic activity in the marine water column plays a crucial role in the carbon cycle, affecting the amount of particulate carbon available to higher trophic levels, the amount of organic carbon preserved over geological timescales, and the balance of CO2 between the oceans and the atmosphere. Extracellular enzymes initiate the breakdown of organic matter, hydrolyzing it into sizes small enough to transport into the cell. The variability of heterotrophic extracellular enzymatic activity across geospatial regimes in the ocean may have an important impact on global carbon flux, yet the patterns of hydrolysis across latitude and depth, and the factors driving these patterns, remain poorly understood. This project investigates the geospatial variability in extracellular hydrolysis of eight organic substrates, spanning surface to bottom water at latitudes from 38°S to 10°N in the Atlantic Ocean. The extent to which ten environmental variables impact hydrolysis patterns along this latitude-depth range is also discussed. |
