Potential Export of Unattached Benthic Macroalgae to the Deep Sea Through Wind Driven Langmuir Circulation
Carbon export to the deep sea is conventionally attributed to the sinking of open ocean phytoplankton. Here, we report a Langmuir supercell event driven by high winds across the shallow Great Bahama Bank that organized benthic non-attached macroalgae, Colpomenia sp., into visible windrows on the sea...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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2009
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ftolddominionuni:oai:digitalcommons.odu.edu:oeas_fac_pubs-1072 2023-06-11T04:14:47+02:00 Potential Export of Unattached Benthic Macroalgae to the Deep Sea Through Wind Driven Langmuir Circulation Dierssen, H. M. Zimmerman, Richard C. Drake, Lisa A. Burdige, David J. 2009-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_fac_pubs/66 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008gl036188 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/oeas_fac_pubs/article/1072/viewcontent/Dierssen_2009_Potential_export_of.pdf unknown ODU Digital Commons https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_fac_pubs/66 doi:10.1029/2008gl036188 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/oeas_fac_pubs/article/1072/viewcontent/Dierssen_2009_Potential_export_of.pdf OES Faculty Publications Carbonate dissolution Shallow water Bahamas banks Ocean Turbulence Transport Sediments Biomass Island Biology Earth Sciences Oceanography Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology article 2009 ftolddominionuni https://doi.org/10.1029/2008gl036188 2023-05-08T17:59:31Z Carbon export to the deep sea is conventionally attributed to the sinking of open ocean phytoplankton. Here, we report a Langmuir supercell event driven by high winds across the shallow Great Bahama Bank that organized benthic non-attached macroalgae, Colpomenia sp., into visible windrows on the seafloor. Ocean color satellite imagery obtained before and after the windrows revealed a 588 km2 patch that rapidly shifted from highly productive macroalgae to bare sand. We assess a number of possible fates for this macroalgae and contend that this event potentially transported negatively buoyant macroalgae to the deep Tongue of the Ocean in a pulsed export of > 7 x 1010 g of carbon. This is equivalent to the daily carbon flux of phytoplankton biomass in the pelagic tropical North Atlantic and 0.2-0.8% of daily carbon flux from the global ocean. Coastal banks and bays are highly productive ecosystems that may contribute substantially to carbon export to the deep sea. Citation: Dierssen, H. M., R. C. Zimmerman, L. A. Drake, and D. J. Burdige (2009), Potential export of unattached benthic macroalgae to the deep sea through wind-driven Langmuir circulation, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L04602, doi:10.1029/2008GL036188. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Old Dominion University: ODU Digital Commons Langmuir ENVELOPE(-67.150,-67.150,-66.967,-66.967) Zimmerman ENVELOPE(167.167,167.167,-73.300,-73.300) Geophysical Research Letters 36 4 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Old Dominion University: ODU Digital Commons |
op_collection_id |
ftolddominionuni |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Carbonate dissolution Shallow water Bahamas banks Ocean Turbulence Transport Sediments Biomass Island Biology Earth Sciences Oceanography Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology |
spellingShingle |
Carbonate dissolution Shallow water Bahamas banks Ocean Turbulence Transport Sediments Biomass Island Biology Earth Sciences Oceanography Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Dierssen, H. M. Zimmerman, Richard C. Drake, Lisa A. Burdige, David J. Potential Export of Unattached Benthic Macroalgae to the Deep Sea Through Wind Driven Langmuir Circulation |
topic_facet |
Carbonate dissolution Shallow water Bahamas banks Ocean Turbulence Transport Sediments Biomass Island Biology Earth Sciences Oceanography Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology |
description |
Carbon export to the deep sea is conventionally attributed to the sinking of open ocean phytoplankton. Here, we report a Langmuir supercell event driven by high winds across the shallow Great Bahama Bank that organized benthic non-attached macroalgae, Colpomenia sp., into visible windrows on the seafloor. Ocean color satellite imagery obtained before and after the windrows revealed a 588 km2 patch that rapidly shifted from highly productive macroalgae to bare sand. We assess a number of possible fates for this macroalgae and contend that this event potentially transported negatively buoyant macroalgae to the deep Tongue of the Ocean in a pulsed export of > 7 x 1010 g of carbon. This is equivalent to the daily carbon flux of phytoplankton biomass in the pelagic tropical North Atlantic and 0.2-0.8% of daily carbon flux from the global ocean. Coastal banks and bays are highly productive ecosystems that may contribute substantially to carbon export to the deep sea. Citation: Dierssen, H. M., R. C. Zimmerman, L. A. Drake, and D. J. Burdige (2009), Potential export of unattached benthic macroalgae to the deep sea through wind-driven Langmuir circulation, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L04602, doi:10.1029/2008GL036188. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dierssen, H. M. Zimmerman, Richard C. Drake, Lisa A. Burdige, David J. |
author_facet |
Dierssen, H. M. Zimmerman, Richard C. Drake, Lisa A. Burdige, David J. |
author_sort |
Dierssen, H. M. |
title |
Potential Export of Unattached Benthic Macroalgae to the Deep Sea Through Wind Driven Langmuir Circulation |
title_short |
Potential Export of Unattached Benthic Macroalgae to the Deep Sea Through Wind Driven Langmuir Circulation |
title_full |
Potential Export of Unattached Benthic Macroalgae to the Deep Sea Through Wind Driven Langmuir Circulation |
title_fullStr |
Potential Export of Unattached Benthic Macroalgae to the Deep Sea Through Wind Driven Langmuir Circulation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Potential Export of Unattached Benthic Macroalgae to the Deep Sea Through Wind Driven Langmuir Circulation |
title_sort |
potential export of unattached benthic macroalgae to the deep sea through wind driven langmuir circulation |
publisher |
ODU Digital Commons |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_fac_pubs/66 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008gl036188 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/oeas_fac_pubs/article/1072/viewcontent/Dierssen_2009_Potential_export_of.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-67.150,-67.150,-66.967,-66.967) ENVELOPE(167.167,167.167,-73.300,-73.300) |
geographic |
Langmuir Zimmerman |
geographic_facet |
Langmuir Zimmerman |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
OES Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_fac_pubs/66 doi:10.1029/2008gl036188 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/oeas_fac_pubs/article/1072/viewcontent/Dierssen_2009_Potential_export_of.pdf |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008gl036188 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
36 |
container_issue |
4 |
_version_ |
1768371075364683776 |