Regional variability of the Southern Ocean spring bloom ...

• Main Author: Rodriguez Vives, Clara
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Tasmania 2024
• Subjects: Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25959/25143761.v1; https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Regional_variability_of_the_Southern_Ocean_spring_bloom/25143761/1

Phytoplankton production in the Southern Ocean plays an important role in the biological carbon pump and sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the oceans. It is predicted that continued anthropogenic carbon emissions will lead to further warming in the Southern Ocean, thereby affecting stratification, light and nutrient availability. The two latter factors are the primary controllers of photosynthesis and phytoplankton growth. Alterations in water column properties caused by climate change will not occur separately, thus, understanding the effects of light and iron on phytoplankton physiology is key to determining future changes to primary production. Regional and in situ phytoplankton studies are sparse in the Southern Ocean. As such, predicted changes in primary production in this area are still uncertain, even in the sign of change. The goal of this thesis is to understand how light and iron affect phytoplankton physiology in the Southern Ocean, and to assess how phytoplankton bloom ...