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Linking deep convection and phytoplankton blooms in the northern Labrador Sea in a changing climate

Journal Article · · PLoS ONE
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Seattle, WA (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (United States); Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA (United States)
  3. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Seattle, WA (United States); Inst. of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Sidney, BC (Canada)
  4. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  5. Gwangju Inst. of Science and Technology, Gwangju (Republic of Korea)
  6. Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst., Woods Hole, MA (United States)
  7. Univ. de Aveiro (Portugal)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Wintertime convective mixing plays a pivotal role in the sub-polar North Atlantic spring phytoplankton blooms by favoring phytoplankton survival in the competition between light-dependent production and losses due to grazing and gravitational settling. We use satellite and ocean reanalyses to show that the area-averaged maximum winter mixed layer depth is positively correlated with April chlorophyll concentration in the northern Labrador Sea. A simple theoretical framework is developed to understand the relative roles of winter/spring convection and gravitational sedimentation in spring blooms in this region. Combining climate model simulations that project a weakening of wintertime Labrador Sea convection from Arctic sea ice melt with our framework suggests a potentially significant reduction in the initial fall phytoplankton population that survive the winter to seed the region's spring bloom by the end of the 21st century.
Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1439649
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA--131791; KP1703010; KP1703010
Journal Information:
PLoS ONE, Journal Name: PLoS ONE Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 13; ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Chlorophyll
Climate change
Climatology
Convection
Phytoplankton
Plankton
Spring (season)
Winter