New nutrients exert fundamental control on dissolved organic carbon accumulation in the surface Atlantic Ocean
Abstract
The inventories of carbon residing in organic matter dissolved in the ocean [dissolved organic carbon (DOC)] and in the atmosphere as CO2 are of the same order of magnitude, such that small changes in the DOC pool could have important consequences in atmospheric carbon and thus climate. DOC in the global ocean is largely formed in the sunlit euphotic zone, but identifying predictable controls on that production is an important yet unrealized goal. In this paper, we use a testable and causative correlation between the net production of DOC and the consumption of new nutrients in the euphotic zone of the Atlantic Ocean. We demonstrate that new nutrients introduced to the euphotic zone by upwelling in divergence zones and by winter convective overturn of the water column, and the primary production associated with those nutrients, are the ultimate driver of DOC distributions across the Atlantic basins. Finally, as new nutrient input will change with a changing climate, the role of DOC in the ocean’s biological pump should likewise be impacted.
- Authors:
-
- Univ. of Miami, FL (United States). Dept. of Ocean Sciences. Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
- Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States). Earth System Science
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States); Univ. of Miami, FL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1469576
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0012550; OCE1436748
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 113; Journal Issue: 38; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424
- Publisher:
- National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; DOC; new nutrients; net community production; Atlantic; surface ocean
Citation Formats
Romera-Castillo, Cristina, Letscher, Robert T., and Hansell, Dennis A. New nutrients exert fundamental control on dissolved organic carbon accumulation in the surface Atlantic Ocean. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1073/pnas.1605344113.
Romera-Castillo, Cristina, Letscher, Robert T., & Hansell, Dennis A. New nutrients exert fundamental control on dissolved organic carbon accumulation in the surface Atlantic Ocean. United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1605344113
Romera-Castillo, Cristina, Letscher, Robert T., and Hansell, Dennis A. Wed .
"New nutrients exert fundamental control on dissolved organic carbon accumulation in the surface Atlantic Ocean". United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1605344113. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1469576.
@article{osti_1469576,
title = {New nutrients exert fundamental control on dissolved organic carbon accumulation in the surface Atlantic Ocean},
author = {Romera-Castillo, Cristina and Letscher, Robert T. and Hansell, Dennis A.},
abstractNote = {The inventories of carbon residing in organic matter dissolved in the ocean [dissolved organic carbon (DOC)] and in the atmosphere as CO2 are of the same order of magnitude, such that small changes in the DOC pool could have important consequences in atmospheric carbon and thus climate. DOC in the global ocean is largely formed in the sunlit euphotic zone, but identifying predictable controls on that production is an important yet unrealized goal. In this paper, we use a testable and causative correlation between the net production of DOC and the consumption of new nutrients in the euphotic zone of the Atlantic Ocean. We demonstrate that new nutrients introduced to the euphotic zone by upwelling in divergence zones and by winter convective overturn of the water column, and the primary production associated with those nutrients, are the ultimate driver of DOC distributions across the Atlantic basins. Finally, as new nutrient input will change with a changing climate, the role of DOC in the ocean’s biological pump should likewise be impacted.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1605344113},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
number = 38,
volume = 113,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Aug 31 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Wed Aug 31 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
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