Can whales mix the ocean?
International audience Ocean mixing influences global climate and enhances primary productivity by transporting nutrient rich water into the euphotic zone. The contribution of the swimming biosphere to diapycnal mixing in the ocean has been hypothesised to occur on scales similar to that of tides or...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Other Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2012
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-00823541 https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-9-8387-2012 |
id |
ftunivlille:oai:HAL:hal-00823541v1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivlille:oai:HAL:hal-00823541v1 2024-06-23T07:56:58+00:00 Can whales mix the ocean? Lavery, Tj Roudnew, B. Seuront, Laurent Mitchell, Jg Middleton, J. Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187 (LOG) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Nord ) 2012 https://hal.science/hal-00823541 https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-9-8387-2012 en eng HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/bgd-9-8387-2012 hal-00823541 https://hal.science/hal-00823541 doi:10.5194/bgd-9-8387-2012 ISSN: 1810-6277 EISSN: 1810-6285 Biogeosciences Discussions https://hal.science/hal-00823541 Biogeosciences Discussions, 2012, 9, pp.8387-8403. ⟨10.5194/bgd-9-8387-2012⟩ [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2012 ftunivlille https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-9-8387-2012 2024-06-10T14:25:16Z International audience Ocean mixing influences global climate and enhances primary productivity by transporting nutrient rich water into the euphotic zone. The contribution of the swimming biosphere to diapycnal mixing in the ocean has been hypothesised to occur on scales similar to that of tides or winds, however, the extent to which this contributes to nutrient transport and stimulates primary productivity has not been explored. Here, we introduce a novel method to estimate the diapycnal diffusivity that occurs as a result of a sperm whale swimming through a pycnocline. Nutrient profiles from the Hawaiian Ocean are used to further estimate the amount of nitrogen transported into the euphotic zone and the primary productivity stimulated as a result. We estimate that the 80 sperm whales that travel through an area of 104 km2 surrounding Hawaii increase diapycnal diffusivity by 10-6 m2 s−1 which results in the flux of 105 kg of nitrogen into the euphotic zone each year. This nitrogen input subsequently stimulates 6 × 105 kg of carbon per year. The nutrient input of swimming sperm whales is modest compared to dominant modes of nutrient transport such as nitrogen fixation but occurs more consistently and thus may provide the nutrients necessary to enable phytoplankton growth and survival in the absence of other seasonal and daily nutrient inputs. Article in Journal/Newspaper Sperm whale LillOA (HAL Lille Open Archive, Université de Lille) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
LillOA (HAL Lille Open Archive, Université de Lille) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivlille |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
[SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography Lavery, Tj Roudnew, B. Seuront, Laurent Mitchell, Jg Middleton, J. Can whales mix the ocean? |
topic_facet |
[SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography |
description |
International audience Ocean mixing influences global climate and enhances primary productivity by transporting nutrient rich water into the euphotic zone. The contribution of the swimming biosphere to diapycnal mixing in the ocean has been hypothesised to occur on scales similar to that of tides or winds, however, the extent to which this contributes to nutrient transport and stimulates primary productivity has not been explored. Here, we introduce a novel method to estimate the diapycnal diffusivity that occurs as a result of a sperm whale swimming through a pycnocline. Nutrient profiles from the Hawaiian Ocean are used to further estimate the amount of nitrogen transported into the euphotic zone and the primary productivity stimulated as a result. We estimate that the 80 sperm whales that travel through an area of 104 km2 surrounding Hawaii increase diapycnal diffusivity by 10-6 m2 s−1 which results in the flux of 105 kg of nitrogen into the euphotic zone each year. This nitrogen input subsequently stimulates 6 × 105 kg of carbon per year. The nutrient input of swimming sperm whales is modest compared to dominant modes of nutrient transport such as nitrogen fixation but occurs more consistently and thus may provide the nutrients necessary to enable phytoplankton growth and survival in the absence of other seasonal and daily nutrient inputs. |
author2 |
Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187 (LOG) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Nord ) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lavery, Tj Roudnew, B. Seuront, Laurent Mitchell, Jg Middleton, J. |
author_facet |
Lavery, Tj Roudnew, B. Seuront, Laurent Mitchell, Jg Middleton, J. |
author_sort |
Lavery, Tj |
title |
Can whales mix the ocean? |
title_short |
Can whales mix the ocean? |
title_full |
Can whales mix the ocean? |
title_fullStr |
Can whales mix the ocean? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Can whales mix the ocean? |
title_sort |
can whales mix the ocean? |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00823541 https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-9-8387-2012 |
genre |
Sperm whale |
genre_facet |
Sperm whale |
op_source |
ISSN: 1810-6277 EISSN: 1810-6285 Biogeosciences Discussions https://hal.science/hal-00823541 Biogeosciences Discussions, 2012, 9, pp.8387-8403. ⟨10.5194/bgd-9-8387-2012⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/bgd-9-8387-2012 hal-00823541 https://hal.science/hal-00823541 doi:10.5194/bgd-9-8387-2012 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-9-8387-2012 |
_version_ |
1802650394379157504 |