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Diel Vertically Migrating Zooplankton that spend their day in an Oxygen Deficient Zone to avoid predators are a previously ignored source of organic matter for N2 producing bacteria. A recent study in GBC, examined biogeochemical cycling in the offshore Eastern Tropical North Pacific Oxygen Deficient Zone. They found that the daytime maximum in backscattering, used […]
Read MoreIceberg meltwater induces mixing which erodes upper-ocean layers. This supplies nutrients, both released from the iceberg and entrained from deeper waters, to surface waters which stimulates phytoplankton growth. Meltwater from the base, sidewalls and surface of giant icebergs influences upper ocean stratification and mixing. Containing a substantial micro-nutrient load, (incorporating nutrient-rich deep waters along with […]
Read MoreThe ocean’s biological carbon pump (BCP) plays a crucial role in regulating Earth’s climate. But how efficiently does it transport carbon to the deep? It has been difficult to answer this question because observations are sparse, labor-intensive, and the uncertainties of the BCP’s magnitude, which are nearly equivalent to human emissions. Fortunately, autonomous vehicles unlock […]
Read MoreDo you work with over-determined datasets of seawater carbon dioxide system chemistry? QUODcarb (Quantifying Uncertainty in an Over-Determined marine carbonate system), a new over-determined CO2-system solver is described in the recently published “QUODcarb: A Bayesian solver for over-determined datasets of seawater carbon dioxide system chemistry.” The Bayesian formulation of the novel solver and demonstrates its […]
Read MoreUnlike most remote sensing products, Net Primary Production (NPP) is computed under clouds. Since satellites can’t see through clouds, NPP models rely on clear-sky observations, interpolate model inputs, and assume that phytoplankton behavior stays the same, regardless of light conditions. But phytoplankton are known to photoacclimate, adjusting their internal chlorophyll to carbon ratio in response […]
Read MoreHow deep in the ocean do microbes feel the effects of nutrient limitation? Microbial production in one third of the surface ocean is limited by the essential micronutrient iron (Fe). This limitation extends to at least the bottom of the euphotic zone, but what happens below that? In a study that recently published in Nature […]
Read MoreDenitrification is a crucial multi-step process for ecosystem productivity and sustainability because some of its steps can result in the loss of the essential nutrient nitrogen or the production of greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. We do not understand why microbial functional groups conducting different steps of denitrification can coexist in the ocean and why certain […]
Read MoreBiogeochemical models predict that ocean warming is weakening the vertical transport of nutrients to the upper ocean, with severe implications for marine productivity. However, nutrient concentrations across the ocean surface often fall below detection limits, making it difficult to observe long-term changes. In a recent study in PNAS, we analyzed over 30,000 nitrate and phosphate […]
Read MoreBottom trawling, a fishing method that uses heavy nets to catch animals that live on and in the seafloor, could release a large amount of organic carbon from seafloor into the water, that metabolizes to CO2 then outgasses to the atmosphere. The magnitude of this indirect emission has been heavily debated, with estimates spanning from […]
Read MoreThe global ocean dampens the anthropic CO2 increase in the atmosphere by absorbing around 25% of the carbon emitted each year. Of the processes involved in exchanges of energy and mass between ocean and atmosphere that may impact this carbon sink, rainfall has never been systematically and comprehensively quantified. A study recently published in Nature […]
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Funding for the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry Project Office is provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The OCB Project Office is housed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.