Total flux, particulate carbon and nitrogen from surface-tethered sediment traps at time series station BATS from March-2016 till May-2017

Data were obtained as part of the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) in order to characterise the downward vertical fluxes of sinking material. The data were collected on board of the R/V Atlantic Explorer, at BATS site (31°40′N; 64°10′W) on a monthly basis, from March 2016 to May 2017, except in March 2017 due to rough weather. Each time, sediment traps (free-drifting cylindrical trap, MultiPITs) were deployed at different depths : 150 m, 200 m and 300 m. They collected sinking particles during 72 hours. The location of the traps were checked periodically during the deployement as precised in BATS protocol. Prior to analyses, " swimmers " (i.e. recognizable zooplankton) were removed by hand under a microscope, to not overestimate fluxes. Sinking biomass was obtained by drying the material at 65°C. Particulate carbon and nitrogen were also measured throughout a CHN analysis. Data were then averaged from three replicates and blank corrected, following the BATS protocol (Steinberg et al., 2001). Finally, data are expressed as a flux in mg/m²/day, mgC/m²/day and mgN/m²/day, respectively for biomass, carbon and nitrogen flux.