Small Phytoplankton Shapes Colored Dissolved Organic Matter Dynamics in the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Organelli, Emanuele, Claustre, Hervé
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche (IMEV), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: envir; geo; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084699; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03138091/file/2019GL084699.pdf; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03138091

International audience The North Atlantic subtropical gyre (NASTG) is a model of the future ocean under climate change. Ocean warming signals are hidden within the blue color of these clear waters and can be tracked by understanding the dynamics among phytoplankton chlorophyll ([Chl]) and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM). In NASTG, [Chl] and CDOM are strongly correlated. Yet, this unusual correlation for open oceans remains unexplained. Here, we test main hypotheses by analyzing high spatiotemporal resolution data collected by Biogeochemical-Argo floats between 2012 and 2018. The direct production of CDOM via phytoplankton metabolism is the main occurring mechanism. More importantly, CDOM dynamics strongly depend on the abundance of picophytoplankton. Our findings thus highlight the critical role of these small organisms under the ocean warming scenario. Picophytoplankton will enhance the production of colored dissolved compounds and, ultimately, impact on the ocean carbon cycle. Plain Language Summary Colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is ubiquitous in aquatic ecosystems. CDOM absorbs sunlight and, ultimately, colors the oceans. In the blue and clear subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic Ocean, the temporal dynamics of CDOM are strongly correlated with the concentration of chlorophyll contained into tiny plants called phytoplankton. The reasons of such a correlation are unexplained. Here, we use field data collected by autonomous robotic platforms and show that CDOM is a fresh product of phytoplankton metabolism in the sampled area. More importantly, we observe that this production is driven by the presence of the smallest phytoplankton on the planet. The role of picophytoplankton (i.e., all phytoplankton with size smaller than 2 μm) as a producer of CDOM will thus become critical for the ocean carbon cycle in the future ocean, as climate change allows subtropical gyres expanding.