IATROSCAN-MEASURED PARTICULATE AND DISSOLVED LIPIDS IN THE ALMERIA-ORAN FRONTAL SYSTEM (ALMOFRONT-1, MAY 1991)

The Chromarod-Iatroscan system was used to measure dissolved and particulate lipids at six sites representative of the main hydrological zones of the Almeria-Oran frontal system in May 1991. Concentrations ranged from 9 to 113 mug l-1 and from 3 to 84 mug l-1 respectively. Particulate carbon was estimated on a CHN Leco analyzer. Dissolved lipid concentrations were highly variable with depth and exhibited clear signatures of phytoplankton degradation throughout the profiles. In the 300-400 m layer, particulate wax esters denoted the presence of deep zooplankton which may benefit from the downward fluxes of organic matter from the frontal zone. In surface water, high concentrations of dissolved lipids and particulate carbon marked the presence of the jet front. Particulate lipid classes in samples were related to the presence of zooplankton and to the physiological state of cells rather than to phytoplankton biomass. Particulate triglyceride concentrations (storage lipids in phytoplankton) increased from the left to the right border of the jet core and further southwards, culminating in the Atlantic anticyclonic gyre. The distribution of particulate lipids to carbon and chlorophyllatios and the increasing level of triglycerides from the jet and southwards suggested a rapid removal of the frontal production by physical transports. The ability of anticyclonic structures to enhance accumulations of energetically rich compounds and thus to play a role as fertilizers of the oligotrophic waters of the Mediterranean Sea is discussed.