Coccolithophore surface distributions in the North Atlantic and their modulation of the air-sea flux of CO2 from 10 years of satellite Earth observation data
Coccolithophores are the primary oceanic phytoplankton responsible for the production of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ). These climatically important plankton play a key role in the oceanic carbon cycle as a major contributor of carbon to the open ocean carbonate pump (~50%) and their calcification can...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:bg15150 2023-05-15T17:28:26+02:00 Coccolithophore surface distributions in the North Atlantic and their modulation of the air-sea flux of CO2 from 10 years of satellite Earth observation data Shutler, J. D. Land, P. E. Brown, C. W. Findlay, H. S. Donlon, C. J. Medland, M. Snooke, R. Blackford, J. C. 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-2699-2013 https://www.biogeosciences.net/10/2699/2013/ eng eng doi:10.5194/bg-10-2699-2013 https://www.biogeosciences.net/10/2699/2013/ eISSN: 1726-4189 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-2699-2013 2019-12-24T09:55:26Z Coccolithophores are the primary oceanic phytoplankton responsible for the production of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ). These climatically important plankton play a key role in the oceanic carbon cycle as a major contributor of carbon to the open ocean carbonate pump (~50%) and their calcification can affect the atmosphere-to-ocean (air-sea) uptake of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) through increasing the seawater partial pressure of CO 2 ( p CO 2 ). Here we document variations in the areal extent of surface blooms of the globally important coccolithophore, Emiliania huxleyi, in the North Atlantic over a 10-year period (1998–2007), using Earth observation data from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). We calculate the annual mean sea surface areal coverage of E. huxleyi in the North Atlantic to be 474 000 ± 104 000 km 2 , which results in a net CaCO 3 carbon (CaCO 3 -C) production of 0.14–1.71 Tg CaCO 3 -C per year. However, this surface coverage (and, thus, net production) can fluctuate inter-annually by −54/+8% about the mean value and is strongly correlated with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate oscillation index ( r =0.75, p <0.02). Our analysis evaluates the spatial extent over which the E. huxleyi blooms in the North Atlantic can increase the p CO 2 and, thus, decrease the localised air-sea flux of atmospheric CO 2 . In regions where the blooms are prevalent, the average reduction in the monthly air-sea CO 2 flux can reach 55%. The maximum reduction of the monthly air-sea CO 2 flux in the time series is 155%. This work suggests that the high variability, frequency and distribution of these calcifying plankton and their impact on p CO 2 should be considered if we are to fully understand the variability of the North Atlantic air-to-sea flux of CO 2 . We estimate that these blooms can reduce the annual N. Atlantic net sink atmospheric CO 2 by between 3–28%. Text North Atlantic Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Biogeosciences 10 4 2699 2709 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
Coccolithophores are the primary oceanic phytoplankton responsible for the production of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ). These climatically important plankton play a key role in the oceanic carbon cycle as a major contributor of carbon to the open ocean carbonate pump (~50%) and their calcification can affect the atmosphere-to-ocean (air-sea) uptake of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) through increasing the seawater partial pressure of CO 2 ( p CO 2 ). Here we document variations in the areal extent of surface blooms of the globally important coccolithophore, Emiliania huxleyi, in the North Atlantic over a 10-year period (1998–2007), using Earth observation data from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). We calculate the annual mean sea surface areal coverage of E. huxleyi in the North Atlantic to be 474 000 ± 104 000 km 2 , which results in a net CaCO 3 carbon (CaCO 3 -C) production of 0.14–1.71 Tg CaCO 3 -C per year. However, this surface coverage (and, thus, net production) can fluctuate inter-annually by −54/+8% about the mean value and is strongly correlated with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate oscillation index ( r =0.75, p <0.02). Our analysis evaluates the spatial extent over which the E. huxleyi blooms in the North Atlantic can increase the p CO 2 and, thus, decrease the localised air-sea flux of atmospheric CO 2 . In regions where the blooms are prevalent, the average reduction in the monthly air-sea CO 2 flux can reach 55%. The maximum reduction of the monthly air-sea CO 2 flux in the time series is 155%. This work suggests that the high variability, frequency and distribution of these calcifying plankton and their impact on p CO 2 should be considered if we are to fully understand the variability of the North Atlantic air-to-sea flux of CO 2 . We estimate that these blooms can reduce the annual N. Atlantic net sink atmospheric CO 2 by between 3–28%. |
format |
Text |
author |
Shutler, J. D. Land, P. E. Brown, C. W. Findlay, H. S. Donlon, C. J. Medland, M. Snooke, R. Blackford, J. C. |
spellingShingle |
Shutler, J. D. Land, P. E. Brown, C. W. Findlay, H. S. Donlon, C. J. Medland, M. Snooke, R. Blackford, J. C. Coccolithophore surface distributions in the North Atlantic and their modulation of the air-sea flux of CO2 from 10 years of satellite Earth observation data |
author_facet |
Shutler, J. D. Land, P. E. Brown, C. W. Findlay, H. S. Donlon, C. J. Medland, M. Snooke, R. Blackford, J. C. |
author_sort |
Shutler, J. D. |
title |
Coccolithophore surface distributions in the North Atlantic and their modulation of the air-sea flux of CO2 from 10 years of satellite Earth observation data |
title_short |
Coccolithophore surface distributions in the North Atlantic and their modulation of the air-sea flux of CO2 from 10 years of satellite Earth observation data |
title_full |
Coccolithophore surface distributions in the North Atlantic and their modulation of the air-sea flux of CO2 from 10 years of satellite Earth observation data |
title_fullStr |
Coccolithophore surface distributions in the North Atlantic and their modulation of the air-sea flux of CO2 from 10 years of satellite Earth observation data |
title_full_unstemmed |
Coccolithophore surface distributions in the North Atlantic and their modulation of the air-sea flux of CO2 from 10 years of satellite Earth observation data |
title_sort |
coccolithophore surface distributions in the north atlantic and their modulation of the air-sea flux of co2 from 10 years of satellite earth observation data |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-2699-2013 https://www.biogeosciences.net/10/2699/2013/ |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
eISSN: 1726-4189 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/bg-10-2699-2013 https://www.biogeosciences.net/10/2699/2013/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-2699-2013 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
2699 |
op_container_end_page |
2709 |
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1766121089218379776 |