New estimates of Southern Ocean annual net community production revealed by BGC-Argo floats

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Su, J, Schallenberg, C, Rohr, T, Strutton, PG, Phillips, HE
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Amer Geophysical Union 2022
• Subjects: Southern Ocean; primary productivity
• Online Access: https://eprints.utas.edu.au/46882/; https://eprints.utas.edu.au/46882/1/SuSouthernOceanANCP_preprint.pdf

Using an expanding Southern Ocean fleet of biogeochemical Argo (BGC-Argo) floats, we developed a novel approach to estimate annual net community production (ANCP) by integrating subsurface oxygen drawdown from all available BGC-Argo oxygen profiles. Our results suggest that, on average, 14% of remineralization occurs between 500 and 1000 m and 15% occurs between the euphotic depth and 100 m. Using the improved methodology, we estimated total basin-integrated ANCP in the Southern Ocean to be 3.89 GT C year-1 suggesting a more important role for the Southern Ocean in regulating oceanic carbon storage, atmospheric CO2 exchange and climate than previously assumed.