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Author
Stukel, M.R. ; Aluwihare, L.I. ; Barbeau, K.A. ; Chekalyuk, A.M. ; Goericke, R. ; Miller, A.J. ; Ohman, M.D. ; Ruacho, A. ; Song, H. ; Stephens, B.M. ; Landry, M.R.
Title
Mesoscale ocean fronts enhance carbon export due to gravitational sinking and subduction
Type
$loc['typeJournal Article']
Year
2017
Publication
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Abbreviated Journal
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Volume
114
Issue
6
Pages
1252-1257
Keywords
biological carbon pump ; carbon cycle ; particle flux ; particulate organic carbon ; plankton
Abstract
Enhanced vertical carbon transport (gravitational sinking and subduction) at mesoscale ocean fronts may explain the demonstrated imbalance of new production and sinking particle export in coastal upwelling ecosystems. Based on flux assessments from 238U:234Th disequilibrium and sediment traps, we found 2 to 3 times higher rates of gravitational particle export near a deep-water front (305 mg Cm-2d-1) compared with adjacent water or to mean (nonfrontal) regional conditions. Elevated particle flux at the front was mechanistically linked to Fe-stressed diatoms and high mesozooplankton fecal pellet production. Using a data assimilative regional ocean model fit to measured conditions, we estimate that an additional approximately 225 mg Cm-2d-1 was exported as subduction of particle-rich water at the front, highlighting a transport mechanism that is not captured by sediment traps and is poorly quantified by most models and in situ measurements. Mesoscale fronts may be responsible for over a quarter of total organic carbon sequestration in the California Current and other coastal upwelling ecosystems.
Address
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093
Corporate Author
Thesis
Publisher
Place of Publication
Editor
Language
English
Summary Language
Original Title
Series Editor
Series Title
Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume
Series Issue
Edition
ISSN
0027-8424
ISBN
Medium
Area
Expedition
Conference
Funding
PMID:28115723; PMCID:PMC5307443
Approved
$loc['no']
Call Number
COAPS @ mfield @
Serial
67
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Author
Stukel, M.R. ; Décima, M. ; Landry, M.R. ; Selph, K.E.
Title
Nitrogen and isotope flows through the Costa Rica Dome upwelling ecosystem: The crucial mesozooplankton role in export flux
Type
$loc['typeJournal Article']
Year
2018
Publication
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Abbreviated Journal
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Volume
32
Issue
12
Pages
1815–1832.
Keywords
Crustaceans ; Diel vertical migration ; Nitrogen cycle ; Biological carbon pump ; Nitrogen isotopes ; Linear inverse ecosystem model
Abstract
The Costa Rica Dome (CRD) is an open-ocean upwelling ecosystem, with high biomasses of picophytoplankton (especially Synechococcus), mesozooplankton, and higher trophic levels. To elucidate the food web pathways supporting the trophic structure and carbon export in this unique ecosystem, we used Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques to assimilate data from four independent realizations of δ15N and planktonic rate measurements from the CRD into steady state, multicompartment ecosystem box models (linear inverse models). Model results present well-constrained snapshots of ecosystem nitrogen and stable isotope fluxes. New production is supported by upwelled nitrate, not nitrogen fixation. Protistivory (rather than herbivory) was the most important feeding mode for mesozooplankton, which rely heavily on microzooplankton prey. Mesozooplankton play a central role in vertical nitrogen export, primarily through active transport of nitrogen consumed in the surface layer and excreted at depth, which comprised an average 36-46% of total export. Detritus or aggregate feeding is also an important mode of resource acquisition by mesozooplankton and regeneration of nutrients within the euphotic zone. As a consequence, the ratio of passively sinking particle export to phytoplankton production is very low in the CRD. Comparisons to similar models constrained with data from the nearby equatorial Pacific demonstrate that the dominant role of vertical migrators to the biological pump is a unique feature of the CRD. However, both regions show efficient nitrogen transfer from mesozooplankton to higher trophic levels (as expected for regions with large fish, cetacean, and seabird populations) despite the dominance of protists as major grazers of phytoplankton.
Address
Corporate Author
Thesis
Publisher
Place of Publication
Editor
Language
Summary Language
Original Title
Series Editor
Series Title
Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume
Series Issue
Edition
ISSN
ISBN
Medium
Area
Expedition
Conference
Funding
Approved
$loc['no']
Call Number
COAPS @ rl18 @
Serial
978
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