## 4 Abundance of the Various Particulate Components  
The relative concentrations N\({}_{j}\) associated with each particle group are chosen to realistically represent the mix of marine components and to ensure that the overall size distribution matches the Junge power law (Tables 3-5 and Figure 2). In situ laser diffraction measurements of the PSD in different oceanic regions showed that the size distribution of marine particles can be approximated by the Junge-like power law [35; 36; 37]. As discussed by [PERSON] et al. [36], the power law with a single slope is a convenient empirical descriptor of the PSD, but we have to keep in mind that, in some cases (e.g., in nearshore waters and in the presence of specific populations of phytoplankton) the particle size distribution deviates from the Junge-like power law [36; 37; 38]. Relatively steep hyperbolic slopes (around 4) are encountered in open ocean waters, whereas less steep slopes (around 3.3) are characteristic of phytoplankton bloom and/or production of particle aggregates. In the present study, results are discussed for \(\xi\) = 3, 3.5, and 4 as the vast majority of hyperbolic slopes are in this range (Figure 11 in [36; 37]). Results are shown also for \(\xi\) = 2.5 and 5 but hyperbolic slopes greater than 4 are much less likely to occur. Likewise, \(\xi\) < 3 are rare excepted when there is biological growth in the relatively large size classes and/or aggregation. To compare with typical particulate abundances estimated in natural waters, a total abundance (N\({}_{TOT}\)) of 1.1262 \(\times 10^{14}\) particles per m\({}^{3}\) is considered to be in [PERSON] et al. [25]. Three case studies are defined. The first one represents oligotrophic-like waters with no phytoplankton bloom and no-mineral particles: the phytoplankton abundance (N\({}_{PHY}\)) spans from 1.1 \(\times\) 10\({}^{9}\) (for \(\xi\) = 4.9) to 4.6 \(\times\) 10\({}^{11}\) (for \(\xi\) = 2.5) particles per m\({}^{3}\) (0.001%-0.41% of N\({}_{TOT}\)). The second one represents waters with a phytoplankton bloom and no minerals, where N\({}_{PHY}\) is higher as compared to the oligotrophic-like case: N\({}_{PHY}\) rangesbetween 8.3 \(\times\) 10\({}^{9}\) (for \(\xi\) = 4.9) and 2.3 \(\times\) 10\({}^{12}\) (for \(\xi\) = 2.5) particles per m\({}^{3}\) (0.007%-2% of N\({}_{TOT}\)). The third one represents coastal-like waters with minerals and no bloom conditions: minerals are added proportionally to obtain a bulk real refractive index \(\tilde{n_{r}}\) around 1.1. The mineral abundance (N\({}_{MIN}\)) spans from 4.8 \(\times\) 10\({}^{12}\) (for \(\xi\) = 4.9) to 1.3 \(\times\) 10\({}^{13}\) (for \(\xi\) = 2.5) particles per m\({}^{3}\) (4.2%-11.7% of N\({}_{TOT}\)). The abundances of the different particle components can be directly compared to the abundances provided in [PERSON] et al. [25] as N\({}_{TOT}\) is identical. In [PERSON] et al. [25], \(\xi\) = 4, so comparisons are possible only for this value (Table 6). We note that N\({}_{PHY}\) is of the same order of magnitude. [PERSON] et al. [25] have higher concentrations of DET and MIN and lower concentrations of VIR and BAC. In their paper, the authors explained that the concentrations of DET and MIN were chosen to obtain realistic contributions of detrital and mineral absorption. However, they cautioned against attaching particular significance to their selected DET and MIN concentrations in the context of how well these values can represent realistic concentrations in specific oceanic water bodies. The abundances of viruses and bacteria (N\({}_{VIR}\) and N\({}_{BAC}\)), used in this study, agree with the [PERSON] and [PERSON] values [24]. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [24] (Table 1 in their paper) used N\({}_{VIR}\) between 3.0 \(\times\) 10\({}^{9}\) and 4.6 \(\times\) 10\({}^{14}\) particles per m\({}^{3}\), N\({}_{BAC}\) between 3.0 \(\times\) 10\({}^{11}\) and 1.5 \(\times\) 10\({}^{12}\) particles per m\({}^{3}\). [PERSON] and [PERSON], 2017 [39] confirmed that viral abundance can reach up to 10\({}^{14}\) particles per m\({}^{3}\).