Date set for "Coccolithophore abundance and production and their impacts on particulate inorganic carbon cycling in the western North Pacific"

We investigated coccolithophore cell and coccolith abundance, coccolithophore calcite, and particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) concentration from both Niskin bottle and in situ pump sampling in the upper water column of the western North Pacific Ocean along the 155°E meridian. For coccolithophore analyses, 2-4 L of seawater were collected and filtered on 0.8 μm pore-size polycarbonate membranes. Coccolithophores cell and coccolith abundances were checked using a scanning electron microscope. coccolithophore calcite content was calculated based on coccolithophore abundance, the number of coccoliths per cell and the average coccolith calcite mass of a given species. For PIC from Niskin bottle, 24 L of seawater were collected and filtered on two quartz microfiber (QMA) filters (1.0 μm pore size, 25 mm diameter). Size-fractionated PIC was collected using McLane Research in situ pumps. Filter holders were loaded with a 51 μm Sefar polyester mesh prefilter followed by paired Whatman QMA filters. Hereafter, we refer to the two particle size fractions as large and small size fractions (LSF, > 51 μm and SSF, 1–51 μm, respectively). A 1/4 subsample of the 51 μm polyester mesh prefilter and two circles of 23 mm diameter subsample of the QMA filter were analyzed for LSF and SSF PIC concentrations, respectively. PIC was determined by measuring the amount of CO2 released after acid treatment of the filters using a Thermo Delta V Plus isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS, Thermo Fisher, USA) coupled with a Thermo Gasbench II system. The nutrient data, including dissolved inorganic nitrogen (nitrate plus nitrite), soluble reactive phosphate (SRP), dissolved silicate (DSi), and ammonium (NH4+), is also provided.