[Bermuda carbonate platform sediment export to the deep] - Sediment-trap particle flux and composition measurements before, during, and after the passage of Hurricane Fabian (2003) and Hurricane Igor (2010) that resuspended large amounts of sediment from the Bermuda Platform (Time Series Particle Flux Measurements in the Sargasso Sea)

Following Fabian, carbonate fluxes at the OFP site increased 15-fold, 32-fold, and 6-fold at 500, 1,500 and 3,200 m, respectively, with the 1,500 m flux equivalent to the total annual carbonate flux. OFP traps similarly captured a large detrital carbonate plume following Igor; here, the plume was shallower and persisted longer. Microscopy, geochemistry, and mineralogy confirmed that both plumes consisted of fine-grained shallow-water detrital carbonates alongside other materials accumulated on the Pedestal including phosphorus, lithogenic, authigenic, and pollutant elements.

Clay-sized particles (less than 4 micrometers (μm)) in both plumes exhibited high contents of lithogenic and authigenic elements, and Zn, Cd, and V, facilitating their transport over long distances. Grain-size, elemental, and lipid composition indicated that plumes intercepted at different depths originated from different source areas on the Pedestal.