Jelly-falls
marine carbon cycling events whereby gelatinous zooplankton sink to the seafloor
Jelly-falls are marine carbon cycling events whereby gelatinous zooplankton, primarily cnidarians, sink to the seafloor and enhance carbon and nitrogen fluxes via rapidly sinking particulate organic matter. These events provide nutrition to benthic megafauna and bacteria. Jelly-falls have been implicated as a major "gelatinous pathway" for the sequestration of labile biogenic carbon through the biological pump. The high abundance and wide geographic distribution of gelatinous zooplankton means that jelly-falls are a large component of the global biological pump. The contribution they provide to the export of labile organic carbon to the seafloor is comparable to that of other detrital pulses like phytoplankton blooms and marine snow aggregates. These events are common in protected areas with high levels of primary production and water quality suitable to support cnidarian species. These areas include estuaries and several studies have been conducted in fjords of Norway.
In rare cases where scavengers are not present or the water is particularly still, thousands of jellyfish can accumulate in depressions on the seafloor to create "jelly-lakes".
Initiation
Jelly-falls are primarily made up of the decaying bodies of Cnidaria and Thaliacea (Pyrosomida, Doliolida, and Salpida). Several circumstances can trigger the death of gelatinous organisms which would cause them to sink.
“Jelly-falls” enters the record as marine carbon cycling events whereby gelatinous zooplankton sink to the seafloor. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Jelly-falls, marine and carbon can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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