Biogeochemical controls of surface ocean phosphate
Abstract
Surface ocean phosphate is commonly below the standard analytical detection limits, leading to an incomplete picture of the global variation and biogeochemical role of phosphate. A global compilation of phosphate measured using high-sensitivity methods revealed several previously unrecognized low-phosphate areas and clear regional differences. Both observational climatologies and Earth system models (ESMs) systematically overestimated surface phosphate. Furthermore, ESMs misrepresented the relationships between phosphate, phytoplankton biomass, and primary productivity. Atmospheric iron input and nitrogen fixation are known important controls on surface phosphate, but model simulations showed that differences in the iron-to-macronutrient ratio in the vertical nutrient supply and surface lateral transport are additional drivers of phosphate concentrations. Our study demonstrates the importance of accurately quantifying nutrients for understanding the regulation of ocean ecosystems and biogeochemistry now and under future climate conditions.
- Authors:
-
- Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
- Bigelow Lab. for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME (United States)
- Univ. of Tasmania (Australia)
- National Sun Yat-sen Univ., Kaohsiung (Taiwan)
- Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA (United States)
- Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia)
- Univ. of Tokyo (Japan); Soka Univ., Tokyo (Japan)
- Tokyo Univ. of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo (Japan)
- Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI (United States)
- Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Niigata (Japan)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guangzhou (China)
- Xiamen Univ. (China)
- Mediterranean Inst. of Oceanography (MIO), Marseille (France)
- Plymouth Marine Lab. (United Kingdom)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1612479
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0016329; SC0016539
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Science Advances
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 5; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2375-2548
- Publisher:
- AAAS
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Science & Technology - Other Topics
Citation Formats
Martiny, Adam C., Lomas, Michael W., Fu, Weiwei, Boyd, Philip W., Chen, Yuh-ling L., Cutter, Gregory A., Ellwood, Michael J., Furuya, Ken, Hashihama, Fuminori, Kanda, Jota, Karl, David M., Kodama, Taketoshi, Li, Qian P., Ma, Jian, Moutin, Thierry, Woodward, E. Malcolm S., and Moore, J. Keith. Biogeochemical controls of surface ocean phosphate. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aax0341.
Martiny, Adam C., Lomas, Michael W., Fu, Weiwei, Boyd, Philip W., Chen, Yuh-ling L., Cutter, Gregory A., Ellwood, Michael J., Furuya, Ken, Hashihama, Fuminori, Kanda, Jota, Karl, David M., Kodama, Taketoshi, Li, Qian P., Ma, Jian, Moutin, Thierry, Woodward, E. Malcolm S., & Moore, J. Keith. Biogeochemical controls of surface ocean phosphate. United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax0341
Martiny, Adam C., Lomas, Michael W., Fu, Weiwei, Boyd, Philip W., Chen, Yuh-ling L., Cutter, Gregory A., Ellwood, Michael J., Furuya, Ken, Hashihama, Fuminori, Kanda, Jota, Karl, David M., Kodama, Taketoshi, Li, Qian P., Ma, Jian, Moutin, Thierry, Woodward, E. Malcolm S., and Moore, J. Keith. Thu .
"Biogeochemical controls of surface ocean phosphate". United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax0341. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1612479.
@article{osti_1612479,
title = {Biogeochemical controls of surface ocean phosphate},
author = {Martiny, Adam C. and Lomas, Michael W. and Fu, Weiwei and Boyd, Philip W. and Chen, Yuh-ling L. and Cutter, Gregory A. and Ellwood, Michael J. and Furuya, Ken and Hashihama, Fuminori and Kanda, Jota and Karl, David M. and Kodama, Taketoshi and Li, Qian P. and Ma, Jian and Moutin, Thierry and Woodward, E. Malcolm S. and Moore, J. Keith},
abstractNote = {Surface ocean phosphate is commonly below the standard analytical detection limits, leading to an incomplete picture of the global variation and biogeochemical role of phosphate. A global compilation of phosphate measured using high-sensitivity methods revealed several previously unrecognized low-phosphate areas and clear regional differences. Both observational climatologies and Earth system models (ESMs) systematically overestimated surface phosphate. Furthermore, ESMs misrepresented the relationships between phosphate, phytoplankton biomass, and primary productivity. Atmospheric iron input and nitrogen fixation are known important controls on surface phosphate, but model simulations showed that differences in the iron-to-macronutrient ratio in the vertical nutrient supply and surface lateral transport are additional drivers of phosphate concentrations. Our study demonstrates the importance of accurately quantifying nutrients for understanding the regulation of ocean ecosystems and biogeochemistry now and under future climate conditions.},
doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aax0341},
journal = {Science Advances},
number = 8,
volume = 5,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {7}
}
Web of Science
Works referenced in this record:
Nitrification and its influence on biogeochemical cycles from the equatorial Pacific to the Arctic Ocean
journal, February 2016
- Shiozaki, Takuhei; Ijichi, Minoru; Isobe, Kazuo
- The ISME Journal, Vol. 10, Issue 9
The Distribution of Dissolved Iron in the West Atlantic Ocean
journal, June 2014
- Rijkenberg, Micha J. A.; Middag, Rob; Laan, Patrick
- PLoS ONE, Vol. 9, Issue 6
Phosphorus deficiency in the Atlantic: An emerging paradigm in oceanography
journal, January 2003
- Ammerman, James W.; Hood, Raleigh R.; Case, Darin A.
- Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, Vol. 84, Issue 18
Re-examination of the MAGIC method to determine low orthophosphate concentration in seawater
journal, August 2005
- Rimmelin, Peggy; Moutin, Thierry
- Analytica Chimica Acta, Vol. 548, Issue 1-2
Nutrient availability and the ultimate control of the biological carbon pump in the western tropical South Pacific Ocean
journal, January 2018
- Moutin, Thierry; Wagener, Thibaut; Caffin, Mathieu
- Biogeosciences, Vol. 15, Issue 9
Nutrient gradients in the western North Atlantic Ocean: Relationship to microbial community structure and comparison to patterns in the Pacific Ocean
journal, November 2001
- Cavender-Bares, Kent K.; Karl, David M.; Chisholm, Sallie W.
- Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, Vol. 48, Issue 11
Convergent estimates of marine nitrogen fixation
journal, February 2019
- Wang, Wei-Lei; Moore, J. Keith; Martiny, Adam C.
- Nature, Vol. 566, Issue 7743
Phosphate Depletion in the Western North Atlantic Ocean
journal, August 2000
- Wu, J.
- Science, Vol. 289, Issue 5480
Multiple stressors of ocean ecosystems in the 21st century: projections with CMIP5 models
journal, January 2013
- Bopp, L.; Resplandy, L.; Orr, J. C.
- Biogeosciences, Vol. 10, Issue 10
GFDL’s ESM2 Global Coupled Climate–Carbon Earth System Models. Part II: Carbon System Formulation and Baseline Simulation Characteristics
journal, April 2013
- Dunne, John P.; John, Jasmin G.; Shevliakova, Elena
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 26, Issue 7
Spatial variability of phosphate and nitrate in the Mediterranean Sea: A modeling approach
journal, February 2016
- Lazzari, P.; Solidoro, C.; Salon, S.
- Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, Vol. 108
Parallel phylogeography of Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus
journal, October 2018
- Kent, Alyssa G.; Baer, Steven E.; Mouginot, Céline
- The ISME Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 2
Influence of growth rate on the physiological response of marine Synechococcus to phosphate limitation
journal, February 2015
- Kretz, Cécilia B.; Bell, Doug W.; Lomas, Debra A.
- Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol. 6
Global ocean biogeochemistry model HAMOCC: Model architecture and performance as component of the MPI-Earth system model in different CMIP5 experimental realizations: The Model Hamocc within Mpi-Esm in Cmip5
journal, May 2013
- Ilyina, Tatiana; Six, Katharina D.; Segschneider, Joachim
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 5, Issue 2
Microbially Mediated Transformations of Phosphorus in the Sea: New Views of an Old Cycle
journal, January 2014
- Karl, David M.
- Annual Review of Marine Science, Vol. 6, Issue 1
Seasonal ITCZ migration dynamically controls the location of the (sub)tropical Atlantic biogeochemical divide
journal, December 2013
- Schlosser, C.; Klar, J. K.; Wake, B. D.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 111, Issue 4
Globalizing results from ocean in situ iron fertilization studies: GLOBALIZING IRON FERTILIZATION
journal, June 2006
- Aumont, O.; Bopp, L.
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 20, Issue 2
Insights Into the Biogeochemical Cycling of Iron, Nitrate, and Phosphate Across a 5,300 km South Pacific Zonal Section (153°E-150°W)
journal, February 2018
- Ellwood, Michael J.; Bowie, Andrew R.; Baker, Alex
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 32, Issue 2
Evaluation of the carbon cycle components in the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM)
journal, January 2013
- Tjiputra, J. F.; Roelandt, C.; Bentsen, M.
- Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 6, Issue 2
Influence of atmospheric pollution on nutrient limitation in the ocean
journal, June 1989
- Fanning, Kent A.
- Nature, Vol. 339, Issue 6224
High resolution determination of nanomolar concentrations of dissolved reactive phosphate in ocean surface waters using long path liquid waveguide capillary cells (LWCC) and spectrometric detection: Determination of nanomolar phosphate
journal, August 2012
- Zimmer, Louise Aastrup; Cutter, Gregory A.
- Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, Vol. 10, Issue 8
A simple nutrient-dependence mechanism for predicting the stoichiometry of marine ecosystems
journal, June 2015
- Galbraith, Eric D.; Martiny, Adam C.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 112, Issue 27
Nature of Phosphorus Limitation in the Ultraoligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean
journal, August 2005
- Thingstad, T. F.
- Science, Vol. 309, Issue 5737
An intermediate complexity marine ecosystem model for the global domain
journal, January 2001
- Moore, J. Keith; Doney, Scott C.; Kleypas, Joanie A.
- Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, Vol. 49, Issue 1-3
Impact of ocean phytoplankton diversity on phosphate uptake
journal, November 2014
- Lomas, Michael W.; Bonachela, Juan A.; Levin, Simon A.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 111, Issue 49
Seasonal variations of unicellular diazotroph groups A and B, and Trichodesmium in the northern South China Sea and neighboring upstream Kuroshio Current
journal, June 2014
- Shiozaki, Takuhei; Chen, Yuh-ling Lee; Lin, Yen-Huei
- Continental Shelf Research, Vol. 80
The relative influences of nitrogen and phosphorus on oceanic primary production
journal, August 1999
- Tyrrell, Toby
- Nature, Vol. 400, Issue 6744
Ocean productivity from space: Commentary: Ocean Productivity From Space
journal, January 2017
- Kahru, Mati
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 31, Issue 1
Nutrient Ratios as a Tracer and Driver of Ocean Biogeochemistry
journal, January 2012
- Deutsch, Curtis; Weber, Thomas
- Annual Review of Marine Science, Vol. 4, Issue 1
Indonesian throughflow nutrient fluxes and their potential impact on Indian Ocean productivity: Ayers et al.: ITF nutrient fluxes
journal, July 2014
- Ayers, Jennifer M.; Strutton, Peter G.; Coles, Victoria J.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 41, Issue 14
A new model for the role of the oceans in determining atmospheric P CO2
journal, April 1984
- Sarmiento, J. L.; Toggweiler, J. R.
- Nature, Vol. 308, Issue 5960
Differential effects of nitrate, ammonium, and urea as N sources for microbial communities in the North Pacific Ocean: N effects on microbial communities
journal, June 2017
- Shilova, I. N.; Mills, M. M.; Robidart, J. C.
- Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 62, Issue 6
Phosphorus cycling in the North and South Atlantic Ocean subtropical gyres
journal, June 2008
- Mather, Rhiannon L.; Reynolds, Sarah E.; Wolff, George A.
- Nature Geoscience, Vol. 1, Issue 7
MAGIC: A sensitive and precise method for measuring dissolved phosphorus in aquatic environments
journal, January 1992
- Karl, David M.; Tien, Georgia
- Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 37, Issue 1
Carbon-based primary productivity modeling with vertically resolved photoacclimation: CARBON-BASED PRODUCTION MODEL
journal, June 2008
- Westberry, T.; Behrenfeld, M. J.; Siegel, D. A.
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 22, Issue 2
Underway analysis of nanomolar dissolved reactive phosphorus in oligotrophic seawater with automated on-line solid phase extraction and spectrophotometric system
journal, January 2017
- Ma, Jian; Yuan, Yuan; Yuan, Dongxing
- Analytica Chimica Acta, Vol. 950
Arsenic and phosphorus biogeochemistry in the ocean: Arsenic species as proxies for P-limitation
journal, March 2013
- Wurl, Oliver; Zimmer, Louise; Cutter, Gregory A.
- Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 58, Issue 2
Phosphate availability and the ultimate control of new nitrogen input by nitrogen fixation in the tropical Pacific Ocean
journal, January 2008
- Moutin, T.; Karl, D. M.; Duhamel, S.
- Biogeosciences, Vol. 5, Issue 1
Occurrence of rain-origin nitrate patches at the nutrient-depleted surface in the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea during summer
journal, January 2011
- Kodama, Taketoshi; Furuya, Ken; Hashihama, Fuminori
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 116, Issue C8
Introduction to the Biogeochemistry from the Oligotrophic to the Ultraoligotrophic Mediterranean (BOUM) experiment
journal, January 2012
- Moutin, T.; Van Wambeke, F.; Prieur, L.
- Biogeosciences, Vol. 9, Issue 10
Large-scale impact of the island mass effect through nitrogen fixation in the western South Pacific Ocean: SHIOZAKI ET. AL.; ISLAND MASS EFFECT THROUGH N2 FIXATION
journal, April 2014
- Shiozaki, Takuhei; Kodama, Taketoshi; Furuya, Ken
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 41, Issue 8
Production and export in a global ocean ecosystem model
journal, May 2001
- Palmer, J. R.; Totterdell, I. J.
- Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, Vol. 48, Issue 5
Relationships between nutrient stocks and inventories and phytoplankton physiological status along an oligotrophic meridional transect in the Tasman Sea
journal, February 2013
- Ellwood, Michael J.; Law, Cliff S.; Hall, Julie
- Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, Vol. 72
New estimation of N 2 fixation in the western and central Pacific Ocean and its marginal seas: NEW ESTIMATION OF N 2 FIXATION IN THE PACIFIC
journal, March 2010
- Shiozaki, Takuhei; Furuya, Ken; Kodama, Taketoshi
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 24, Issue 1
Sustained climate warming drives declining marine biological productivity
journal, March 2018
- Moore, J. Keith; Fu, Weiwei; Primeau, Francois
- Science, Vol. 359, Issue 6380
A new global interior ocean mapped climatology: the 1° × 1° GLODAP version 2
journal, January 2016
- Lauvset, Siv K.; Key, Robert M.; Olsen, Are
- Earth System Science Data, Vol. 8, Issue 2
Characterization of alkaline phosphatase activity in the North and South Pacific Subtropical Gyres: Implications for phosphorus cycling
journal, May 2011
- Duhamel, Solange; Björkman, Karin M.; Van Wambeke, France
- Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 56, Issue 4
Intercomparison and coupling of magnesium-induced co-precipitation and long-path liquid-waveguide capillary cell techniques for trace analysis of phosphate in seawater
journal, March 2008
- Li, Qian P.; Hansell, Dennis A.
- Analytica Chimica Acta, Vol. 611, Issue 1
Macro-scale exhaustion of surface phosphate by dinitrogen fixation in the western North Pacific: MACRO-SCALE EXHAUSTION OF PHOSPHATE
journal, February 2009
- Hashihama, Fuminori; Furuya, Ken; Kitajima, Satoshi
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, Issue 3
Interactive analysis and visualization of geoscience data with Ocean Data View
journal, December 2002
- Schlitzer, Reiner
- Computers & Geosciences, Vol. 28, Issue 10
Temporal variability in dissolved phosphorus concentrations in the subtropical North Pacific Ocean
journal, February 1997
- Karl, David M.; Tien, Georgia
- Marine Chemistry, Vol. 56, Issue 1-2
Heterotrophic bacteria as major nitrogen fixers in the euphotic zone of the Indian Ocean: NITROGEN FIXATION IN THE INDIAN OCEAN
journal, October 2014
- Shiozaki, Takuhei; Ijichi, Minoru; Kodama, Taketoshi
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 28, Issue 10
The biogeochemical cycle of iron in the ocean
journal, September 2010
- Boyd, P. W.; Ellwood, M. J.
- Nature Geoscience, Vol. 3, Issue 10
Seasonal dynamics of primary and new production in the northern South China Sea: The significance of river discharge and nutrient advection
journal, June 2006
- Lee Chen, Yuh-ling; Chen, Houng-Yung
- Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, Vol. 53, Issue 6
Atmospheric global dust cycle and iron inputs to the ocean: ATMOSPHERIC IRON DEPOSITION
journal, December 2005
- Mahowald, Natalie M.; Baker, Alex R.; Bergametti, Gilles
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 19, Issue 4
Climate change impacts on net primary production (NPP) and export production
(EP) regulated by increasing stratification and phytoplankton community
structure in the CMIP5 models
journal, January 2016
- Fu, Weiwei; Randerson, James T.; Moore, J. Keith
- Biogeosciences, Vol. 13, Issue 18
Occurrence of phosphate acquisition genes in Prochlorococcus cells from different ocean regions
journal, June 2009
- Martiny, Adam C.; Huang, Ying; Li, Weizhong
- Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 11, Issue 6
Does competition for nanomolar phosphate supply explain the predominance of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus ?
journal, September 2002
- Moutin, Thierry; Thingstad, Tron F.; Van Wambeke, France
- Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 47, Issue 5
Sargasso Sea phosphorus biogeochemistry: an important role for dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP)
journal, January 2010
- Lomas, M. W.; Burke, A. L.; Lomas, D. A.
- Biogeosciences, Vol. 7, Issue 2
BIOGEOCHEMICAL dataset collected during the PROSOPE cruise
dataset, January 2020
- Claustre, Hervé; Antoine, David; Babin, Marcel
- SEANOE
Multiple stressors of ocean ecosystems in the 21st century: projections with CMIP5 models
journal, January 2013
- Bopp, L.; Resplandy, L.; Orr, J. C.
- Biogeosciences Discussions, Vol. 10, Issue 2
Phosphate availability and the ultimate control of new nitrogen input by nitrogen fixation in the tropical Pacific Ocean
text, January 2008
- Moutin, Thierry; Karl, David M.; Duhamel, Solange
- Columbia University
Nutrient content and stoichiometry of pelagic Sargassum reflects increasing nitrogen availability in the Atlantic Basin
journal, May 2021
- Lapointe, B. E.; Brewton, R. A.; Herren, L. W.
- Nature Communications, Vol. 12, Issue 1
Evaluation of the carbon cycle components in the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM)
journal, January 2012
- Tjiputra, J. F.; Roelandt, C.; Bentsen, M.
- Geoscientific Model Development Discussions, Vol. 5, Issue 4
Works referencing / citing this record:
Linking regional shifts in microbial genome adaptation with surface ocean biogeochemistry
journal, March 2020
- Garcia, Catherine A.; Hagstrom, George I.; Larkin, Alyse A.
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 375, Issue 1798