Depth profiles of marker pigments from Bacillariophyceae plus Chrysophyceae (A), Chlorophyta (B), cyanobacterial picoplankton (C), Eustigmatophyceae, and Cryptophyta (D).

The traps were deployed for about 16 months. The respective regression equations and its coefficients of determination (r2) are reported in Table 5.In the 40-m trap, fucoxanthin was the dominant carotenoid (Table 1 and Fig. 3). Other pigments of Bacillariophyceae plus Chrysophyceae (chlorophyll c, diadinoxanthin, and diatoxanthin) as well as the cyanobacterial zeaxanthin also showed high sedimentation rates, whereas the chlorophyte chlorophyll b and lutein, as well as the cryptophyte alloxanthin, sedimented only in low amounts (Table 1 and Fig. 3). Abbreviations: Chl—chlorophyll, Fuco—fucoxanthin, Zea—zeaxanthin, β-car—β-carotene, Allo—alloxan