Biological production in the Bellingshausen Sea from oxygen-to-argon ratios and oxygen triple isotopes

• Published in: Biogeosciences
• Main Authors: K. Castro-Morales, N. Cassar, D. R. Shoosmith, J. Kaiser
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2013
• Subjects: Ecology; QH540-549.5; Life; QH501-531; Geology; QE1-996.5; Bellingshausen Sea; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-2273-2013; https://doaj.org/article/c0a9c4bd9fe9413b8a4ae6c009d17883

We present estimates of mixed-layer net community oxygen production ( N ) and gross oxygen production ( G ) of the Bellingshausen Sea in March and April 2007. N was derived from oxygen-to-argon (O 2 /Ar) ratios; G was derived using the dual-delta method from triple oxygen isotope measurements. In addition, O 2 profiles were collected at 253 CTD stations. N is often approximated by the biological oxygen air–sea exchange flux ( F bio based on the O 2 /Ar supersaturation, assuming that significant horizontal or vertical fluxes are absent. Here we show that the effect of vertical fluxes alone can account for F bio values < 0 in large parts of the Bellingshausen Sea towards the end of the productive season, which could otherwise be mistaken to represent net heterotrophy. Thus, improved estimates of mixed-layer N can be derived from the sum of F bio , F e (entrainment from the upper thermocline during mixed-layer deepening) and F v (diapycnal eddy diffusion across the base of the mixed layer). In the winter sea ice zone (WSIZ), the corresponding correction results in a small change of F bio = (30 ± 17) mmol m −2 d −1 to N = (34 ± 17) mmol m −2 d −1 . However, in the permanent open ocean zone (POOZ), the original F bio value of (−17 ± 10) mmol m −2 d −1 gives a corrected value for N of (−2 ± 18) mmol m −2 d −1 . We hypothesize that in the WSIZ, enhanced water column stability due to the release of freshwater and nutrients from sea ice melt may account for the higher N value. These results stress the importance of accounting for physical biases when estimating mixed-layer marine productivity from in situ O 2 /Ar ratios.