Silicate: nitrate ratios of upwelled waters control the phytoplankton community sustained by mesoscale eddies in sub-tropical North Atlantic and Pacific
Silicate: nitrate ratios of upwelled waters control the phytoplankton community sustained by mesoscale eddies in sub-tropical North Atlantic and Pacific
Mesoscale eddies in sub-tropical gyres physically perturb the water column and can introduce macronutrients to the euphotic zone, stimulating a biological response in which phytoplankton communities can become dominated by large phytoplankton. Mesoscale eddies may therefore be important in driving export in oligotrophic regions of the modern ocean. However, the character and magnitude of the biological response sustained by eddies is variable. Here we present data from mesoscale eddies in the Sargasso Sea (Atlantic) and the waters off Hawai'i (Pacific), alongside mesoscale events that affected the Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study (BATS) over the past decade. From this analysis, we suggest that the phytoplankton community structure sustained by mesoscale eddies is predetermined by the relative abundance of silicate over nitrate (Si*) in the upwelled waters. We present data that demonstrate that mode-water eddies (MWE) in the Sargasso Sea upwell locally formed waters with relatively high Si* to the euphotic zone, and that cyclonic eddies in the Sargasso Sea introduce waters with relatively low Si*, a signature that originated in the iron-limited Southern Ocean. We propose that this phenomenon can explain the observed dominance of the phytoplankton community by large-diatom species in MWE and by small prokaryotic phytoplankton in cyclonic features. In contrast to the Atlantic, North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) with high Si* may influence the cyclonic eddies in waters off Hawai'i, which also appear capable of sustaining diatom populations. These observations suggest that the structure of phytoplankton communities sustained by eddies may be related to the chemical composition of the upwelled waters in addition to the physical nature of the eddy.
657-666
Bibby, T.S.
e04ea079-dd90-4ead-9840-00882de27ebd
Moore, C.M.
7ec80b7b-bedc-4dd5-8924-0f5d01927b12
2011
Bibby, T.S.
e04ea079-dd90-4ead-9840-00882de27ebd
Moore, C.M.
7ec80b7b-bedc-4dd5-8924-0f5d01927b12
Bibby, T.S. and Moore, C.M.
(2011)
Silicate: nitrate ratios of upwelled waters control the phytoplankton community sustained by mesoscale eddies in sub-tropical North Atlantic and Pacific.
Biogeosciences, 8 (3), .
(doi:10.5194/bg-8-657-2011).
Abstract
Mesoscale eddies in sub-tropical gyres physically perturb the water column and can introduce macronutrients to the euphotic zone, stimulating a biological response in which phytoplankton communities can become dominated by large phytoplankton. Mesoscale eddies may therefore be important in driving export in oligotrophic regions of the modern ocean. However, the character and magnitude of the biological response sustained by eddies is variable. Here we present data from mesoscale eddies in the Sargasso Sea (Atlantic) and the waters off Hawai'i (Pacific), alongside mesoscale events that affected the Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study (BATS) over the past decade. From this analysis, we suggest that the phytoplankton community structure sustained by mesoscale eddies is predetermined by the relative abundance of silicate over nitrate (Si*) in the upwelled waters. We present data that demonstrate that mode-water eddies (MWE) in the Sargasso Sea upwell locally formed waters with relatively high Si* to the euphotic zone, and that cyclonic eddies in the Sargasso Sea introduce waters with relatively low Si*, a signature that originated in the iron-limited Southern Ocean. We propose that this phenomenon can explain the observed dominance of the phytoplankton community by large-diatom species in MWE and by small prokaryotic phytoplankton in cyclonic features. In contrast to the Atlantic, North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) with high Si* may influence the cyclonic eddies in waters off Hawai'i, which also appear capable of sustaining diatom populations. These observations suggest that the structure of phytoplankton communities sustained by eddies may be related to the chemical composition of the upwelled waters in addition to the physical nature of the eddy.
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Published date: 2011
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Local EPrints ID: 183457
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/183457
ISSN: 1726-4170
PURE UUID: 10ce8406-c555-4bd0-a7cc-6d337fd6f1e2
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Date deposited: 28 Apr 2011 14:42
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:03
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