Nanoplankton: The dominant vector for carbon export across the Atlantic Southern Ocean in spring
Across the Southern Ocean, large (≥20 μm) diatoms are generally assumed to be the primary vector for carbon export, although this assumption derives mainly from summertime observations. Here, we investigated carbon production and export potential during the Atlantic Southern Ocean’s spring bloom fro...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi3059 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.adi3059 |
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craaas:10.1126/sciadv.adi3059 2024-06-09T07:49:42+00:00 Nanoplankton: The dominant vector for carbon export across the Atlantic Southern Ocean in spring Flynn, Raquel F. Haraguchi, Lumi McQuaid, Jeff Burger, Jessica M. Mutseka Lunga, Percy Stirnimann, Luca Samanta, Saumik Roychoudhury, Alakendra N. Fawcett, Sarah E. 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi3059 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.adi3059 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science Advances volume 9, issue 48 ISSN 2375-2548 journal-article 2023 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi3059 2024-05-16T12:55:09Z Across the Southern Ocean, large (≥20 μm) diatoms are generally assumed to be the primary vector for carbon export, although this assumption derives mainly from summertime observations. Here, we investigated carbon production and export potential during the Atlantic Southern Ocean’s spring bloom from size-fractionated measurements of net primary production (NPP), nitrogen (nitrate, ammonium, urea) and iron (labile inorganic iron, organically complexed iron) uptake, and a high-resolution characterization of phytoplankton community composition. The nanoplankton-sized (2.7 to 20 μm) diatom, Chaetoceros spp., dominated the biomass, NPP, and nitrate uptake across the basin (40°S to 56°S), which we attribute to their low iron requirement, rapid response to increased light, and ability to escape grazing when aggregated into chains. We estimate that the spring Chaetoceros bloom accounted for >25% of annual export production across the Atlantic Southern Ocean, a finding consistent with recent observations from other regions highlighting the central role of the phytoplankton “middle class” in carbon export. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Southern Ocean Science Advances 9 48 |
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Open Polar |
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AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
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craaas |
language |
English |
description |
Across the Southern Ocean, large (≥20 μm) diatoms are generally assumed to be the primary vector for carbon export, although this assumption derives mainly from summertime observations. Here, we investigated carbon production and export potential during the Atlantic Southern Ocean’s spring bloom from size-fractionated measurements of net primary production (NPP), nitrogen (nitrate, ammonium, urea) and iron (labile inorganic iron, organically complexed iron) uptake, and a high-resolution characterization of phytoplankton community composition. The nanoplankton-sized (2.7 to 20 μm) diatom, Chaetoceros spp., dominated the biomass, NPP, and nitrate uptake across the basin (40°S to 56°S), which we attribute to their low iron requirement, rapid response to increased light, and ability to escape grazing when aggregated into chains. We estimate that the spring Chaetoceros bloom accounted for >25% of annual export production across the Atlantic Southern Ocean, a finding consistent with recent observations from other regions highlighting the central role of the phytoplankton “middle class” in carbon export. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Flynn, Raquel F. Haraguchi, Lumi McQuaid, Jeff Burger, Jessica M. Mutseka Lunga, Percy Stirnimann, Luca Samanta, Saumik Roychoudhury, Alakendra N. Fawcett, Sarah E. |
spellingShingle |
Flynn, Raquel F. Haraguchi, Lumi McQuaid, Jeff Burger, Jessica M. Mutseka Lunga, Percy Stirnimann, Luca Samanta, Saumik Roychoudhury, Alakendra N. Fawcett, Sarah E. Nanoplankton: The dominant vector for carbon export across the Atlantic Southern Ocean in spring |
author_facet |
Flynn, Raquel F. Haraguchi, Lumi McQuaid, Jeff Burger, Jessica M. Mutseka Lunga, Percy Stirnimann, Luca Samanta, Saumik Roychoudhury, Alakendra N. Fawcett, Sarah E. |
author_sort |
Flynn, Raquel F. |
title |
Nanoplankton: The dominant vector for carbon export across the Atlantic Southern Ocean in spring |
title_short |
Nanoplankton: The dominant vector for carbon export across the Atlantic Southern Ocean in spring |
title_full |
Nanoplankton: The dominant vector for carbon export across the Atlantic Southern Ocean in spring |
title_fullStr |
Nanoplankton: The dominant vector for carbon export across the Atlantic Southern Ocean in spring |
title_full_unstemmed |
Nanoplankton: The dominant vector for carbon export across the Atlantic Southern Ocean in spring |
title_sort |
nanoplankton: the dominant vector for carbon export across the atlantic southern ocean in spring |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi3059 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.adi3059 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Science Advances volume 9, issue 48 ISSN 2375-2548 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi3059 |
container_title |
Science Advances |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
48 |
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1801382456143642624 |