Phytoplankton and Their Role in Primary, New, and Export Production

2003 ◽  
pp. 99-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul G. Falkowski ◽  
Edward A. Laws ◽  
Richard T. Barber ◽  
James W. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Export Production

scholarly journals A multi-variable box model approach to the soft tissue carbon pump

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 827-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. de Boer ◽  
A. J. Watson ◽  
N. R. Edwards ◽  
K. I. C. Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Nutrient Utilization ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
Box Model ◽  
Co2 Uptake ◽  
Residual Circulation ◽  
Biological Mechanisms ◽  
Export Production ◽  
Model Approach

Abstract. The canonical question of which physical, chemical or biological mechanisms were responsible for oceanic uptake of atmospheric CO2 during the last glacial is yet unanswered. Insight from paleo-proxies has led to a multitude of hypotheses but none so far have been convincingly supported in three dimensional numerical modelling experiments. The processes that influence the CO2 uptake and export production are inter-related and too complex to solve conceptually while complex numerical models are time consuming and expensive to run which severely limits the combinations of mechanisms that can be explored. Instead, an intermediate inverse box model approach of the soft tissue pump is used here in which the whole parameter space is explored. The glacial circulation and biological production states are derived from these using proxies of glacial export production and the need to draw down CO2 into the ocean. We find that circulation patterns which explain glacial observations include reduced Antarctic Bottom Water formation and high latitude upwelling and mixing of deep water and to a lesser extent reduced equatorial upwelling. The proposed mechanism of CO2 uptake by an increase of eddies in the Southern Ocean, leading to a reduced residual circulation, is not supported. Regarding biological mechanisms, an increase in the nutrient utilization in either the equatorial regions or the northern polar latitudes can reduce atmospheric CO2 and satisfy proxies of glacial export production. Consistent with previous studies, CO2 is drawn down more easily through increased productivity in the Antarctic region than the sub-Antarctic, but that violates observations of lower export production there. The glacial states are more sensitive to changes in the circulation and less sensitive to changes in nutrient utilization rates than the interglacial states.

scholarly journals Harmful algae and export production collapse in the equatorial Atlantic during the zenith of Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum warmth

Geology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margot J. Cramwinckel ◽  
Robin van der Ploeg ◽  
Peter K. Bijl ◽  
Francien Peterse ◽  
Steven M. Bohaty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Harmful Algae ◽  
Equatorial Atlantic ◽  
Export Production ◽  
Climatic Optimum

Estimations of primary production and export production in the South China Sea based on sediment trap experiments

1998 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 583-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianfang Chen ◽  
Lianfu Zheng ◽  
M. G. Wiesner ◽  
Ronghua Chen ◽  
Yulong Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
Primary Production ◽  
South China ◽  
Sediment Trap ◽  
The South China Sea ◽  
The South ◽  
Export Production ◽  
China Sea

scholarly journals Nitrogen isotopic evidence for a shift from nitrate- to diazotroph-fueled export production in the VAHINE mesocosm experiments

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 4645-4657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela N. Knapp ◽  
Sarah E. Fawcett ◽  
Alfredo Martínez-Garcia ◽  
Nathalie Leblond ◽  
Thierry Moutin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
N2 Fixation ◽  
Significant Fraction ◽  
Organic N ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Export Production ◽  
Dominant Source ◽  
Isotopic Evidence ◽  
Surface Ocean ◽  
Eukaryotic Phytoplankton ◽  
Mesocosm Experiments

Abstract. In a coastal lagoon with a shallow, 25 m water column off the southwest coast of New Caledonia, large-volume ( ∼  50 m3) mesocosm experiments were undertaken to track the fate of newly fixed nitrogen (N). The mesocosms were intentionally fertilized with 0.8 µM dissolved inorganic phosphorus to stimulate diazotrophy. N isotopic evidence indicates that the dominant source of N fueling export production shifted from subsurface nitrate (NO3−) assimilated prior to the start of the 23-day experiments to N2 fixation by the end of the experiments. While the δ15N of the sinking particulate N (PNsink) flux changed during the experiments, the δ15N of the suspended PN (PNsusp) and dissolved organic N (DON) pools did not. This is consistent with previous observations that the δ15N of surface ocean N pools is less responsive than that of PNsink to changes in the dominant source of new N to surface waters. In spite of the absence of detectable NO3− in the mesocosms, the δ15N of PNsink indicated that NO3− continued to fuel a significant fraction of export production (20 to 60 %) throughout the 23-day experiments, with N2 fixation dominating export after about 2 weeks. The low rates of organic N export during the first 14 days were largely supported by NO3−, and phytoplankton abundance data suggest that sinking material primarily comprised large diatoms. Concurrent molecular and taxonomic studies indicate that the diazotroph community was dominated by diatom–diazotroph assemblages (DDAs) at this time. However, these DDAs represented a minor fraction (< 5 %) of the total diatom community and contributed very little new N via N2 fixation; they were thus not important for driving export production, either directly or indirectly. The unicellular cyanobacterial diazotroph, a Cyanothece-like UCYN-C, proliferated during the last phase of the experiments when N2 fixation, primary production, and the flux of PNsink increased significantly, and δ15N budgets reflected a predominantly diazotrophic source of N fueling export. At this time, the export flux itself was likely dominated by the non-diazotrophic diatom, Cylindrotheca closterium, along with lesser contributions from other eukaryotic phytoplankton and aggregated UCYN-C cells, as well as fecal pellets from zooplankton. Despite comprising a small fraction of the total biomass, UCYN-C was largely responsible for driving export production during the last  ∼  10 days of the experiments both directly ( ∼  5 to 22 % of PNsink) and through the rapid transfer of its newly fixed N to other phytoplankton; we infer that this newly fixed N was transferred rapidly through the dissolved N (including DON) and PNsusp pools. This inference reconciles previous observations of invariant oligotrophic surface ocean DON concentrations and δ15N with incubation studies showing that diazotrophs can release a significant fraction of their newly fixed N as some form of DON.

Carbon export production in the subantarctic zone and polar front zone south of Tasmania

2011 ◽  
Vol 58 (21-22) ◽  
pp. 2277-2292 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.H.M Jacquet ◽  
P.J. Lam ◽  
T. Trull ◽  
F. Dehairs
Keyword(s):  
Polar Front ◽  
Carbon Export ◽  
Export Production ◽  
Front Zone
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