Determination of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous content in sinking particles at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site from 1988-2022 using a Particle Interceptor Trap System (PITS)

Data presented here contain elemental sinking fluxes of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus (C, N, P) from the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study site for October 1988 (BATS Cruise 1) through December 2022 (BATS Cruise 399). To trap oceanic sediment flux, a Particle Interceptor Trap System (PITS) was used. Composed of polycarbonate tubes (7 cm diameter by 53 cm height) containing a buffered brine solution and polycarbonate filters at the bottom where the flux is collected (Knauer et al., 1979), this floating sediment trap array is deployed during monthly BATS cruises at three depths (150, 200, and 300 meters) for a target time of 72 hours. After recovery, the filters are examined under a microscope to remove swimming zooplankton to prevent skewed end results. Three samples from each depth are acidified to remove inorganic carbon before measuring organic carbon and nitrogen using an elemental analyzer, while the remaining non-acidified sample is analyzed for total carbon content. Additional tubes are also deployed (three per depth) for phosphorus counts and analyzed at Bigelow Laboratory of Ocean Sciences. Three other tubes for blank counts are also prepared, but not deployed.