Abstract. Oligotrophic regions represent up to 75 % ofEarth's open-ocean environments. They are thus areas of major importance in understanding the plankton community dynamics and biogeochemical fluxes. Here we present fluxes of total planktonic foraminifera and 11 planktonic foraminifer species measured at the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP) time series site in the oligotrophic Sargasso Sea, subtropical western North Atlantic Ocean. Foraminifera flux was measured at 1500 m water depth, over two ∼ 2.5-year intervals: 1998-2000 and 2007-2010. We find that foraminifera flux was closely correlated with total mass flux, carbonate and organic carbon fluxes. We show that the planktonic foraminifera flux increases approximately 5-fold during the winter-spring, contributing up to ∼ 40 % of the total carbonate flux. This was primarily driven by increased fluxes of deeper-dwelling globorotaliid species, which contributed up to 90 % of the foraminiferal-derived carbonate during late winter-early spring. Interannual variability in total foraminifera flux, and in particular fluxes of the deepdwelling species (Globorotalia truncatulinoides, Globorotalia hirsuta and Globorotalia inflata), was related to differences in seasonal mixed layer dynamics affecting the strength of the spring phytoplankton bloom and export flux, and by the passage of mesoscale eddies. As these heavily calcified, dense carbonate tests of deeper-dwelling species (3 times denser than surface dwellers) have greater sinking rates, this implies a high seasonality of the biological carbonate pump in oligotrophic oceanic regions. Our data suggest that climate cycles, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation, which modulates nutrient supply into the euphotic zone and the strength of the spring bloom, may also in turn modulate the production and flux of these heavily calcified deep-dwelling foraminifera by increasing their food supply, thereby intensifying the biological carbonate pump.

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Abstract. Oligotrophic regions represent up to 75% of Earth's open-ocean environments, and are typically characterized by nutrient-limited upper-ocean mixed layers. They are thus areas of major importance in understanding the plankton community dynamics and biogeochemical fluxes. Here we present fluxes of total planktonic foraminifera and eleven planktonic foraminifer species from a bi-weekly sediment trap time series in the oligotrophic Sargasso Sea, subtropical western North Atlantic Ocean at 1500 m water depth, over two ∼2.5 year intervals, 1998–2000 and 2007–2010. Foraminifera flux was closely correlated with total mass flux and with carbonate and organic carbon fluxes. We show that the planktonic foraminifera flux increases approximately five-fold during the winter–spring, contributing up to ∼40% of the total carbonate flux, driven primarily by increased fluxes of deeper dwelling ("globorotaliid") species. Interannual variability in total foraminifera flux, and in particular fluxes of the deep dwelling Globorotalia truncatulinoides, Globorotalia hirsuta, Globorotalia inflata, were related to differences in seasonal mixed layer dynamics affecting the strength of the spring phytoplankton bloom and export flux, and by the passage of mesoscale eddies. The heavily calcified, dense carbonate tests of deeper dwelling species (3 times denser than surface dwellers) can contribute up to 90% of the foraminiferal-derived carbonate in this region during late winter-early spring, implying a high seasonality of the biological carbonate pump in oligotrophic oceanic regions. Our data suggest that climate cycles, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation, that modulate the depth of the mixed layer, intensity of nutrient upwelling and primary production could also modulate the strength of the biological carbonate pump in the oligotrophic North Atlantic.