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The uptake of silica during the spring bloom in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean

The uptake of silica during the spring bloom in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean
The uptake of silica during the spring bloom in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean
A full understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of silica in the North Atlantic is hampered by a lack of estimates of silica uptake by phytoplankton. We applied the 32Si radiotracer incubation technique to determine silica uptake rates at 10 sites during the UK-(Natural Environment Research Council) Faroes–Iceland–Scotland hydrographic and environmental survey (FISHES) cruise in the Northeast Atlantic, May 2001. Column silica uptake rates ranged between 6 and 166 mmol Si m-2 d-1; this data set was integrated with concurrent hydrographic, chemical, and primary productivity data to explain these changes in silica uptake in terms of the progress of the spring bloom. In order to interpret data covering a relatively large spatial and temporal scale, we used mean photic zone silica concentration as a proxy time-series measure of diatom bloom progression. Both absolute and specific silica uptake rates were highest at dissolved silica concentrations >2 µmol L-1. Si and C uptake were vertically decoupled at those stations where surface silica was strongly depleted. Absolute primary productivity was not strongly correlated with dissolved silica concentrations, owing to either exhaustion of silica at diatom-dominated stations or to dominance of the community by other phytoplankton. Silica uptake as a function of increased substrate concentration was linear up to 25 µmol L-1; we consider some possible reasons for the nonhyperbolic response.
silica, northeast atlantic ocean, atlne, algal blooms, biomass, scotland waters, discovery, nweurheb, diatoms, primary production, hydrography, nutrients, biology
0024-3590
1831-1845
Brown, Louise
72b27329-a2b7-46d8-8480-2f7f54cfc1c4
Sanders, Richard
02c163c1-8f5e-49ad-857c-d28f7da66c65
Savidge, Graham
62f71b0b-9a7b-4ab9-ab7e-b237f942ea57
Lucas, Cathy H.
521743e3-b250-4c6b-b084-780af697d6bf
Brown, Louise
72b27329-a2b7-46d8-8480-2f7f54cfc1c4
Sanders, Richard
02c163c1-8f5e-49ad-857c-d28f7da66c65
Savidge, Graham
62f71b0b-9a7b-4ab9-ab7e-b237f942ea57
Lucas, Cathy H.
521743e3-b250-4c6b-b084-780af697d6bf

Brown, Louise, Sanders, Richard, Savidge, Graham and Lucas, Cathy H. (2003) The uptake of silica during the spring bloom in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean. Limnology and Oceanography, 48 (5), 1831-1845.

Record type: Article

Abstract

A full understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of silica in the North Atlantic is hampered by a lack of estimates of silica uptake by phytoplankton. We applied the 32Si radiotracer incubation technique to determine silica uptake rates at 10 sites during the UK-(Natural Environment Research Council) Faroes–Iceland–Scotland hydrographic and environmental survey (FISHES) cruise in the Northeast Atlantic, May 2001. Column silica uptake rates ranged between 6 and 166 mmol Si m-2 d-1; this data set was integrated with concurrent hydrographic, chemical, and primary productivity data to explain these changes in silica uptake in terms of the progress of the spring bloom. In order to interpret data covering a relatively large spatial and temporal scale, we used mean photic zone silica concentration as a proxy time-series measure of diatom bloom progression. Both absolute and specific silica uptake rates were highest at dissolved silica concentrations >2 µmol L-1. Si and C uptake were vertically decoupled at those stations where surface silica was strongly depleted. Absolute primary productivity was not strongly correlated with dissolved silica concentrations, owing to either exhaustion of silica at diatom-dominated stations or to dominance of the community by other phytoplankton. Silica uptake as a function of increased substrate concentration was linear up to 25 µmol L-1; we consider some possible reasons for the nonhyperbolic response.

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Published date: 2003
Keywords: silica, northeast atlantic ocean, atlne, algal blooms, biomass, scotland waters, discovery, nweurheb, diatoms, primary production, hydrography, nutrients, biology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 2258
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/2258
ISSN: 0024-3590
PURE UUID: a0de10a5-cc04-4f3d-ad70-1e721cd3d273
ORCID for Cathy H. Lucas: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5929-7481

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 24 May 2004
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:46

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Contributors

Author: Louise Brown
Author: Richard Sanders
Author: Graham Savidge
Author: Cathy H. Lucas ORCID iD

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