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The ocean is one of the largest sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) on our planet, driven in part by CO2 uptake by phytoplankton in the upper ocean during photosynthesis. Eventually, a portion of the resulting organic carbon is transported to depth, where it is sequestered from the atmosphere for centuries or even millennia. Our […]
Read MoreWhen designing sampling we make generally accepted assumptions that what we collect is representative of what is “normal” or naturally occurring at the place, time, and depth of collection. However, a recent study in Science Advances revealed that this might not be true. During round-the-clock shipboard sampling, lights used at night can actually be a […]
Read MoreAs one of the major carbon sinks in the global ocean, the North Atlantic is a key player in mediating and ameliorating the ongoing global warming. Current projections of the North Atlantic carbon sink in a high-CO2 future vary greatly among models, with some showing that a slowdown in carbon uptake has already begun and […]
Read MoreThe Southern Ocean dominates the mean global ocean sink for anthropogenic carbon, but its sparse sampling relative to other basins limits our capacity to quantify carbon uptake and accompanying seasonal to interannual variability, which is critical to predicting future ocean carbon uptake and storage. Since 2002, underway pCO2 measurements collected as part of the Drake […]
Read MoreAccording to Martin’s iron hypothesis, input of aeolian dust into the ocean environment temporarily relieves iron limitation that suppresses primary productivity. Asian dust events that originate in the Taklimakan and Gobi Deserts occur primarily in the spring and represent the second largest global source of dust to the oceans. The western North Pacific, where productivity […]
Read MoreDespite major advances in ocean observing capabilities, characterizing the vertical distribution of materials in the ocean with high spatial resolution remains challenging. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), a technique that relies on measurement of the “time-of-flight” of a backscattered laser pulse to determine the range to a scattering object, could potentially fill this critical gap […]
Read MoreHow will increasing meltwater from Greenland affect the biogeochemistry of the ocean? Release of meltwater into the ocean has physical and biogeochemical effects on the local water column. With respect to nutrient availability, meltwater supplies the bioessential nutrients iron and silicic acid but is deficient in nitrate and phosphate. However, despite very low meltwater nitrate […]
Read MoreThe presence of large-scale Ekman downwelling is the textbook explanation for low nutrient concentrations, and hence low productivity, in subtropical gyres. However, recent research has suggested that mesoscale eddies oppose and substantially reduce this downwelling, a process known as eddy cancellation (Doddridge et al, 2016). Eddy cancellation represents a substantial alteration to the widely accepted […]
Read MoreImproved method to identify and reduce uncertainties in marine carbon cycle predictions How well do contemporary Earth System Models (ESMs) represent the dynamics of the modern day ocean? Often we question the fidelity of biological and chemical processes represented in these ESMs. The fact is representations of biogeochemical processes in models are plagued with some […]
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