Identification

Title

Environmental drivers of coccolithophore growth in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean

Abstract

The Great Calcite Belt (GCB) is a band of high concentrations of suspended particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) spanning the subantarctic Southern Ocean and plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. The key limiting factors controlling coccolithophore growth supporting this high PIC have not yet been well-characterized in the remote Pacific sector, the lowest PIC but largest area of the GCB. Here, we present in situ physical and biogeochemical measurements along 150 degrees W from January to February 2021, where a coccolithophore bloom occurred. In both months, PIC was elevated in the Subantarctic Zone (SAZ), where nitrate was >1 mu M and temperatures were similar to 13 degrees C in January and similar to 14 degrees C in February, consistent with conditions previously associated with optimal coccolithophore growth potential. The highest PIC was associated with a relatively narrow temperature range that increased about 1 degrees C between occupations. A fresher water mass had been transported to the 150 degrees W meridian between occupations, and altimetry-informed Lagrangian backtracking estimates show that most of this water was likely transported from the southeast within the SAZ. Applying the observations in a coccolithophore growth model for both January and February, we show that the similar to 1.7 degrees C increase in temperature can explain the rise in PIC between occupations.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7td9z4h

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2023-11-09T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact