English: Zooplankton-mediated carbon cycle in summer on the naturally iron-fertilized Kerguelen Plateau
On the Kerguelen Plateau, high iron levels lead to high chlorophyll a as a proxy for algae biomass at the surface. The diverse zooplankton community feeds on the sinking particle flux and acts as a “gate-keeper” to the deeper ocean by ingesting and fragmenting sinking particles and, consequently, significantly reducing the export flux out of the epipelagic. The main export particles are diatom resting spores, which bypass the intense grazing pressure, followed by fecal pellets. Grazing and fragmentation of particles increases nutrient recycling in the upper water column.