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Net primary production from daily cycles of biomass using Argo floats

Posted by mmaheigan

· Thursday, August 31st, 2023

Net primary productivity is a central metric in ocean biogeochemistry that is costly and time-consuming to estimate using traditional water sampling methods. As a result, it is difficult to detect large-scale trends in ocean productivity. While satellite remote-sensing has partially solved this issue, its observations are limited to the top 10 to 40 m of the ocean and require assumptions about the depth profile of productivity.

Figure 1. (A) A map of BGC-Argo float profiles of particle backscattering where only floats deemed to contain samples from all hours of the day over its lifetime were shown. (BE) The hourly median (black points) and standard error (black vertical lines) of carbon biomass, estimated from particle backscatter. Over a 24-hour period, carbon biomass shows a net accumulation during the day (white space) and net loss during the night (gray space). This daily rhythm in biomass was used to infer gross primary productivity from a sinusoidal model fit that assumes productivity scales with light, community respiration is constant, and net community production is zero. (FI) Profiles of net primary productivity, shown with one standard error (shaded region), can be inferred from these daily cycles available for each depth and region. To estimate net primary production, we estimate gross oxygen production from gross primary (carbon) productivity assuming a photosynthetic quotient of 1.4 and that dissolved primary production is a third of total primary production. We then used an empirical ratio (equal to 2.7) to convert gross oxygen production to net primary productivity.

Our study addresses this problem by using BGC-Argo floats to estimate the in situ vertical structure of net primary productivity inferred from daily cycles of carbon biomass (Fig. 1). Although typical floats collect profiles every 5 or 10 days, it is possible to reconstruct the daily cycle in biomass by combining profiles from many floats that measure non-integer profiling frequencies (e.g., 5.2 or 10.2 days). These floats collect each subsequent profile at a different hour of the day, such that all hours of the day are about equally represented over the floats’ lifetimes. Combining enough of these floats’ profiles, the small daily variations in carbon biomass can be detected and used to infer net primary productivity. We demonstrate this for various depths, regions, and seasons.

Our approach provides low-cost, ground-truthed information throughout the water column across large expanses of the ocean and under various conditions (e.g., clouds, sea ice, or polar night), addressing some of the limitations of satellite or ship observations. We argue that the combination of BGC-Argo with satellite imagery will provide an invaluable tool for assessing large-scale trends in net primary production that may arise from climate change and other environmental purturbations.

Authors
Adam Stoer and Katja Fennel (Dalhousie University)

Dalhousie’s Marine Environmental Modelling Group: memg.ocean.dal.ca

Small particles contribute significantly to the biological carbon pump in the subpolar North Atlantic

Posted by mmaheigan

· Monday, February 13th, 2023

The ocean’s biological carbon pump (BCP) is a collection of processes that transport organic carbon from the surface to the deep ocean where the carbon is sequestered for decades to millennia. Variations in the strength of the BCP can substantially change atmospheric CO₂ levels and affect the global climate. It is important to accurately estimate this carbon flux, but direct measurement is difficult so this remains a challenge.

Figure 1. (a) A schematic illustrating the downward transport of small and large POC into the deep ocean and the subsequent remineralization and fragmentation which breaks large POC into small POC. (b) Trajectories of BGC-Argo float segments. (c) Relative contributions to the annually averaged vertical carbon flux show the dominant role of gravitational sinking flux of large POC as well as the significant contributions from small POC at 100 m due to different mechanisms and at 600 m due to fragmentation.

A recent paper published in Limnology and Oceanography performed a novel mass budget analysis using observations of dissolved oxygen and particulate organic carbon (POC) from BGC-Argo floats in the subpolar North Atlantic. The authors assessed relative importance of different mechanisms contributing to the BCP and related processes, the sinking velocity and remineralization rate of different particle size classes as well as the rate of fragmentation which breaks large particles into smaller ones. Results suggest that on annual timescales, the gravitational settling of large POC is the dominant mechanism. Small POC supplements the vertical carbon flux at 100 m significantly, through various mechanisms, and contributes to carbon sequestration below 600 m due to fragmentation of large POC. In addition, sensitivity experiments highlight the importance of considering remineralization and fragmentation when estimating the vertical carbon flux of small POC.

This novel method provides additional independent constraints on current estimates and improves our mechanistic understanding of the BCP. In addition, it demonstrates the great potential of BGC-Argo float data for studying the biological carbon pump.

Authors:
Bin Wang (Dalhousie University)
Katja Fennel (Dalhousie University)

Integrated analysis of carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations as a quality control of ocean float data

Posted by mmaheigan

· Friday, August 26th, 2022

A recent study in Communications Earth & Environment, examined spatiotemporal patterns of the two dissolved gases CO₂ and O₂in the surface ocean, using the high-quality global dataset GLODAPv2.2020. We used surface ocean data from GLODAP to make plots of carbon dioxide and oxygen relative to saturation (CORS plots). These plots of CO₂ deviations from saturation (ΔCO₂) against oxygen deviations from saturation (ΔO₂) (Figure 1) provide detailed insight into the identity and intensity of biogeochemical processes operating in different basins.

Figure 1: Relationships between ΔCO₂ and ΔO₂ in the global ocean basins based on surface data in the GLODAPv2.2020 database. The black dashed lines are the least-squares best-fit lines to the data; unc denotes the uncertainty in the y-intercept value with 95% confidence; r is the associated Pearson correlation coefficient; n is the number of data points.

In addition, data in all basins and all seasons shares some common behaviors: (1) negative slopes of best fit lines to the data, and (2) near-zero y-intercepts of those lines. We utilized these findings to compare patterns in CORS plots from GLODAP with those from BGC-Argo float data from the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling (SOCCOM) program. Given that the float O₂ data is likely to be more accurate than the float pH data (from which the float CO₂ is calculated), CORS plots are useful for detecting questionable float CO₂ data, by comparing trends in float CORS plots (e.g. Figure 2) to trends in GLODAP CORS plots (Figure 1). As well as the immediately detected erroneous data, we discovered significant discrepancies in ΔCO₂-ΔO₂ y-intercepts compared to the global reference (i.e., GLODAPv2.2020 y-intercepts, Figure 1). The y-intercepts of 48 floats with QCed O₂ and CO₂ data (at regions south of 55°S) were on average greater by 0.36 μmol kg⁻¹ than the GLODAP-derived ones, implying the overestimations of float-based CO₂ release in the Southern Ocean.

Figure 2. CORS plots from data collected by SOCCOM floats F9096 and F9099 in the high-latitude Southern Ocean. Circles with solid edges denote data flagged as ‘good’, whereas crosses denote data flagged as ‘questionable’.

Our study demonstrates CORS plots’ ability to identify questionable data (data shown to be questionable by other QC methods) and to reveal issues with supposed ‘good’ data (i.e., quality issues not picked up by other QC methods). CORS plots use only surface data, hence this QC method complements existing methods based on analysis of deep data. As the oceanographic community becomes increasingly reliant on data collected from autonomous platforms, techniques like CORS will help diagnose data quality, and immediately detect questionable data.

Authors:
Yingxu Wu (Polar and Marine Research Institute, Jimei University, Xiamen, China; University of Southampton)
Dorothee C.E. Bakker (University of East Anglia)
Eric P. Achterberg (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel)
Amavi N. Silva (University of Southampton)
Daisy D. Pickup (University of Southampton)
Xiang Li (George Washington University)
Sue Hartman (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton)
David Stappard (University of Southampton)
Di Qi (Polar and Marine Research Institute, Jimei University, Xiamen, China)
Toby Tyrrell (University of Southampton)

Using BGC-Argo to obtain depth-resolved net primary production

Posted by mmaheigan

· Friday, July 23rd, 2021

Net primary production (NPP)—the organic carbon produced by the phytoplankton minus the organic carbon respired by phytoplankton themselves—serves as a major energy source of the marine ecosystem. Traditional methods for measuring NPP rely on ship-based discrete sampling and bottle incubations (e.g., ¹⁴C incubation), which introduce potential artifacts and limit the spatial and temporal data coverage of the global ocean. The global distribution of NPP has been estimated using satellite observations, but the satellite remote sensing approach cannot provide direct information at depth.

Figure 1. Panel A. Trajectories of 5 BGC-Argo and 1 SOS-Argo with the initial float deployment locations denoted by filled symbols. The dash-line at 47° N divided the research area into the northern (temperate) and southern (subtropical) regions. Stars indicate ship stations where ¹⁴C NPP values were measured during NAAMES cruises and compared with NPP from nearby Argo floats. Panels B and C. Monthly climatologies of net primary production (NPP, mmol m^-3 d^-1) profiles in the northern and southern regions of the research area, derived from BGC-Argo measurements using the PPM model. The shadings indicate one standard deviation. The red dotted line indicates mixed layer depth (MLD, m), and the yellow dashed line shows euphotic depth (Z_1%, m).

To fill this niche, a recent study in Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, applied bio-optical measurements from Argo profiling floats to study the year-round depth-resolved NPP of the western North Atlantic Ocean (39° N to 54° N). The authors calculated NPP with two bio-optical models (Carbon-based Productivity Model, CbPM; and Photoacclimation Productivity Model, PPM). A comparison with NPP profiles from ¹⁴C incubation measurements showed advantages and limitations of both models. CbPM reproduced the magnitude of NPP in most cases, but had artifacts in the summer (a large NPP peak in the subsurface) due to the subsurface chlorophyll maximum caused by photoacclimation. PPM avoided the artifacts in the summer from photoacclimation, but the magnitude of PPM-derived NPP was smaller than the ¹⁴C result. Latitudinally varying NPP were observed, including higher winter NPP/lower summer NPP in the south, timing differences in NPP seasonal phenology, and different NPP depth distribution patterns in the summer months. With a 6-month record of concurrent oxygen and bio-optical measurements from two Argo floats, the authors also demonstrated the ability of Argo profiling floats to obtain estimates of the net community production (NCP) to NPP ratio (f-ratio), ranging from 0.3 in July to -1.0 in December 2016.

This work highlights the utility of float bio-optical profiles in comparison to traditional measurements and indicates that environmental conditions (e.g. light availability, nutrient supply) are major factors controlling the seasonality and spatial (horizontal and vertical) distributions of NPP in the western North Atlantic Ocean.

Authors:
Bo Yang (University of Virginia, UM CIMAS/NOAA AOML)
James Fox (Oregon State University)
Michael J. Behrenfeld (Oregon State University)
Emmanuel S. Boss (University of Maine)
Nils Haëntjens (University of Maine)
Kimberly H. Halsey (Oregon State University)
Steven R. Emerson (University of Washington)
Scott C. Doney (University of Virginia)

Partitioning carbon export into particulate and dissolved pools from biogeochemical profiling float observations

Posted by mmaheigan

· Thursday, December 17th, 2020

Carbon export from the surface into the deep ocean via the biological pump is a significant sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide. The relative contributions of sinking particles—particulate organic carbon (POC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC)—to the total export affect the efficiency of carbon export.

In a recent study published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles, the authors used measurements from biogeochemical profiling floats in the Northeast Pacific from 2009 to 2017 to estimate net community production (NCP), an analog for carbon export. In order to close three tracer budgets (nitrate, dissolved inorganic carbon, and total alkalinity), the authors combined these float measurements with data from the Ocean Station Papa mooring and recently developed algorithms for carbonate system parameters. By constraining end-member nutrient ratios of the POC and DOC produced, this multi-tracer approach was used to estimate regional NCP across multiple depth horizons throughout the annual cycle, partition NCP into the POC and DOC contributions, and calculate particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) production, a known ballast material for sinking particles (Figure 1). The authors also estimated POC attenuation with depth, POC export across deeper horizons, and in situ export efficiency via a particle backscatter-based approach.

With the advent of “fully-loaded” biogeochemical profiling floats equipped with nitrate, oxygen, pH and bio-optical sensors, this approach may be used to assess the magnitude and efficiency of carbon export in other ocean regions from a single platform, which will greatly reduce the risks and costs associated with traditional ship-based measurements, while broadening the spatiotemporal scales of observation.

Figure caption: Climatological mean NCP (blue line) over the entire study period (2009-2017); the POC portion of NCP (filled blue area), the DOC portion (white space) and PIC production rate (red line), in the mixed layer (left), and the euphotic zone (right). The numbers in parentheses are the integrated annual NCP rates for each curve and uncertainty reported was determined using a Monte Carlo approach.

Authors:
William Haskell (MBARI, now Mote Marine Laboratory)
Andrea Fassbender (MBARI, now PMEL)
Jacki Long (MBARI)
Joshua Plant (MBARI)

How zooplankton control carbon export in the Southern Ocean

Posted by mmaheigan

· Thursday, December 3rd, 2020

The Southern Ocean exhibits an inverse relationship between surface primary production and export flux out of the euphotic zone. The causes of this production-export decoupling are still under debate. A recently published mini review in Frontiers in Marine Science focused on zooplankton, an important component of Southern Ocean food webs and the biological pump. The authors compared carbon export regimes from the naturally iron-fertilised Kerguelen Plateau (high surface production, but generally low export) with the iron-limited and less productive high nutrient, low chlorophyll (HNLC) waters south of Australia, where carbon export is relatively high.

Figure 1: The role of zooplankton in establishing the characteristic export regimes at two sites in the Southern Ocean, (a) the highly productive northern Kerguelen Plateau, which exhibits low export, and (b) the iron-limited waters south of Australia with low production, but relatively high carbon export.

Size structure and zooplankton grazing pressure are found to shape carbon export at both sites. On the Kerguelen Plateau, a large size spectrum of zooplankton acts as “gate-keeper” to the mesopelagic by significantly reducing the sinking flux of phytoaggregates, which establishes the characteristic low export regime. In the HNLC waters, however, the zooplankton community is low in biomass and grazes predominantly on smaller particles, which leaves the larger particles for export and leads to relatively high export flux.

Gaps in knowledge related to insufficient seasonal data coverage, understudied carbon flux pathways, and associated mesopelagic processes limit our current understanding of carbon transfer through the water column and export. More integrated data collection efforts, including the use of autonomous profiling floats (e.g., BGC-Argo), stationary moorings, etc., will improve seasonal carbon flux data coverage, thus enabling more reliable estimation of carbon export and storage in the Southern Ocean and improved projection of future changes in carbon uptake and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

Authors:
Svenja Halfter (University of Tasmania)
Emma Cavan (Imperial College London)
Ruth Eriksen (CSIRO)
Kerrie Swadling (University of Tasmania)
Philip Boyd (University of Tasmania)

Timing matters: Correcting float-based measurements of diurnal oxygen variability

Posted by mmaheigan

· Friday, November 6th, 2020

Despite its fundamental importance to the global carbon cycle, climate, and marine ecosystems, oceanic primary production is grossly under-sampled. Autonomous platforms represent an important frontier for expanding measurements of marine primary productivity in time and space, but this requires the establishment of robust, standardized methods to obtain reliable data from these platforms. Using data from profiling floats deployed in the northern Gulf of Mexico, authors of a recent study published in Biogeosciences demonstrated, for the first time, that daily cycles of dissolved oxygen can be observed with Argo-type profiling floats. The floats were instructed to profile continuously, resulting in about one profile every three hours. The floats recorded data both on the ascent (upcast) and the descent (downcast). Adjacent casts showed hysteresis in gradient areas, i.e. a lag in the concentration measurement, due to the slow response time of oxygen sensors.

Figure 1: Example of raw oxygen measurements from a downcast (dark purple line) and an upcast (dark green line) and corrected profiles (lighter purple and green lines) in (a) density and (b) pressure coordinates. (c) Upcasts and downcasts (top 150 m) plotted against each other with raw data (purple) and data corrected according to the new method (red). (d) The root-mean-square difference (RMSD) between the upcast and downcast after correcting casts for a range of time constants (τ), showing an optimal τ value in this case of 76 s (red dot).

To correct for these measurement errors, the authors developed a method to determine sensor response time in situ, using an established process for correcting sensor response time errors. This method requires a timestamp associated with each observation. The response time parameter (τ) was determined by correcting consecutive profiles taken in opposite directions using a range of possible values and finding the minimum root-mean-square-difference between them (Figure 1). In light of these findings, future oxygen measurements from Argo floats should be transmitted with time stamps for a calibration period during which up- and downcasts are recorded to facilitate response time correction. The method developed here will contribute to more accurate measurement of dissolved oxygen, thus improving the quality of derived quantities such as primary productivity.

Authors
Christopher Gordon (Dalhousie University)
Katja Fennel (Dalhousie University)
Clark Richards (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
Nick Shay (University of Miami)
Jodi Brewster (University of Miami)

Unexpected patterns of carbon export in the Southern Ocean

Posted by mmaheigan

· Tuesday, July 7th, 2020

The Southern Ocean is a major player in driving global distributions of heat, carbon dioxide, and nutrients, making it key to ocean chemistry and the earth’s climate system. In the ocean, biological production and export of organic carbon are commonly linked to places with high nutrient availability. A recent paper, published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles, highlighting new observations from robotic profiling floats demonstrates that areas of high carbon export in the Southern Ocean are actually associated with very low concentrations of iron, an important micronutrient for supporting phytoplankton growth. This suggests a decoupling between the production and export of organic carbon in this region.

Figure caption: (A) Meridional pattern of Annual Net Community Production (ANCP) (equivalent to carbon export) (± standard deviation) in the Southern Ocean (blue line with circles and shaded area), carbon export estimates from previous satellite-based analyses (blue dashed line), and silicate to nitrate (Si:NO₃) ratio of the surface water (black continuous line). Grey dotted line shows a Si:NO₃ = 1 mol mol⁻¹, characteristic of nutrient-replete diatoms. (B) Meridional pattern of Southern Ocean nutrient concentrations, including dissolved iron (Fe) concentration (black line), nitrate (red line), and silicate (blue line). (C) Mean 2014–2015 annual zonally averaged air-sea flux of CO₂ computed using neural network interpolation method. STF = Subtropical Front, PF = Antarctic Polar Front, SIF = Seasonal Ice Front.

Using observations of nutrient and oxygen drawdown from a regional network of profiling Biogeochemical-Argo floats deployed as part of the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling project (SOCCOM), the authors calculated estimates of Southern Ocean carbon export. A meridional pattern in biological carbon export emerged, showing peak export near the Antarctic Polar Front (PF) associated with minima in surface iron concentrations and dissolved silicate to nitrate ratios. Previous studies have shown that under iron-limiting conditions, diatoms increase their uptake ratio of silicate with respect to other nutrients (e.g., nitrogen), resulting in silicification. Here, the authors hypothesize that iron limitation promotes silicification in Southern Ocean diatoms, as evidenced by the low silicate to nitrate ratio of surface waters around the Antarctic Polar Front. High diatom silicification increases ballasting of particulate organic carbon and hence overall carbon export in this region. The resulting meridional pattern of organic carbon export is similar to that of the air-sea flux of carbon dioxide in the Southern Ocean, underscoring the importance of the biological carbon pump in controlling the spatial pattern of oceanic carbon uptake in this region.

Authors:
Lionel A. Arteaga (Princeton University)
Markus Pahlow (Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, GEOMAR)
Seth M. Bushinsky (University of Hawaii)
Jorge L. Sarmiento (Princeton University)

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.

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