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Title: Climate-driven oscillation of phosphorus and iron limitation in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
  2. Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI (United States)
  3. Univ. of Montana, Polson, MT (United States). Flathead Lake Biological Station
  4. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)

The supply of nutrients is a fundamental regulator of ocean productivity and carbon sequestration. Nutrient sources, sinks, residence times, and elemental ratios vary over broad scales, including those resulting from climate-driven changes in upper water column stratification, advection, and the deposition of atmospheric dust. These changes can alter the proximate elemental control of ecosystem productivity with cascading ecological effects and impacts on carbon sequestration. In this paper, we report multidecadal observations revealing that the ecosystem in the eastern region of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) oscillates on subdecadal scales between inorganic phosphorus (Pi) sufficiency and limitation, when Piconcentration in surface waters decreases below 50–60 nmol·kg–1. In situ observations and model simulations suggest that sea-level pressure changes over the northwest Pacific may induce basin-scale variations in the atmospheric transport and deposition of Asian dust-associated iron (Fe), causing the eastern portion of the NPSG ecosystem to shift between states of Fe and Pilimitation. Our results highlight the critical need to include both atmospheric and ocean circulation variability when modeling the response of open ocean pelagic ecosystems under future climate change scenarios.

Research Organization:
Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth and Environmental Systems Science Division; National Science Foundation (NSF); Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC); International Pacific Research Center (IPRC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0006791; OCE-1260164; OCE-1357015; SC0006735; AGS-1049033
OSTI ID:
1525531
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1594091
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 116, Issue 26; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 38 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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