Carbon cycling in the deep Mariana Trench in the western north Pacific Ocean: Insights from radiocarbon proxy data

Abstract The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific (NP) contains the deepest (11,000 m) point in the ocean and thus remains the least explored environment. Carbon cycling in the deep Mariana Trench is largely unknown and remains a curious mystery. Here, we report radiocarbon (Δ14C) and stable carbon isotope (δ13C) compositions of dissolved inorganic and organic carbon (DIC and DOC) and sinking particulate organic carbon (POC) for samples collected at 2000 m, 4000 m and 6000 m from the Mariana Trench in the western NP. DOC had much lower Δ14C values (−189‰ to −538‰) than DIC (38‰ to −236‰) and POC (11‰–38‰) at the same depths, indicating the different cycling processes and time scales of different carbon pools. The 14C ages of DOC were approximately 1700 years and 4400 years older than those of DIC in the surface (2 m) and deep (10,000 m) waters of the Mariana Trench. Both DOC and DIC Δ14C values at hadal depths (>6000 m) in the trench are comparable to values at other sites in the deep NP, suggesting that water movement and mixing at hadal depths in the Mariana Trench are active and follow the deep-water circulation patterns of the NP. POC fluxes at the three deep depths showed large variations, but their modern Δ14C values indicate that the effective biological pump that drives fresh surface-produced particles to sink rapidly to deep depths in the trench could provide essential food sources for microbial and benthic communities living in an extremely harsh environment of the Mariana Trench.