OCB Science Highlights

OCB Science Highlights

If you would like to have your recent publications featured on the OCB website and eNewsletter please contact ocb_news@whoi.edu. View our guidelines for writing a OCB Science Highlight.

Biophysical drivers of vigorous carbon cycling near the Kuroshio Extension

April 27, 2017

The Kuroshio Current and its Extension jet in the western North Pacific Ocean form a dynamic western boundary current (WBC) region characterized by large air-sea exchanges of heat and carbon dioxide gas (CO2). The jet is known to oscillate between stable and meandering states on multi-year timescales that alter the eddy field and depth of […]

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Satellite Laser Lights Up Polar Research

April 13, 2017

What controls annual cycles and interannual changes in polar phytoplankton biomass? Answers to this question are now emerging from a satellite light detection and ranging (lidar) sensor, which can observe the polar oceans throughout the extensive periods when measurements from traditional passive ocean color sensors are impossible. The new study uses active lidar measurements from […]

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International team of researchers reports ocean acidification is spreading rapidly in the western Arctic Ocean

March 30, 2017

The Arctic Ocean is particularly sensitive to climate change and ocean acidification such that aragonite saturation state is expected to become undersaturated (Ωarag <1) there sooner than in other oceans. However, the extent and expansion rate of ocean acidification (OA) in this region are still unknown. In the March 2017 issue of Nature Climate Change, […]

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Reconciling fisheries catch and ocean productivity in a changing climate

March 16, 2017

Phytoplankton provide the energy that fuels marine food webs, yet differences in fisheries catch across global ecosystems far exceed accompanying differences in phytoplankton production. Nearly 50 years ago, John Ryther hypothesized that this contrast must arise from synergistic interactions between phytoplankton production and food webs. New perspectives on global fish catch, fishing effort, and a […]

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Oceanic fronts enhance carbon transport to the ocean’s interior through both subduction and amplified sinking

March 1, 2017

Mesoscale fronts are regions with potentially enhanced nutrient fluxes, phytoplankton production and biomass, and aggregation of mesozooplankton and higher trophic levels. However, the role of these features in transporting organic carbon to depth and hence sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere has not previously been determined. Working with the California Current Ecosystem Long Term Ecological Research […]

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OCB Joint Newsletter issue with US CLIVAR

February 16, 2017

A recent workshop co-sponsored by US CLIVAR, OCB, NOAA, PICES, and ICES, Forecasting ENSO impacts on marine ecosystems of the US West Coast, attempted to develop a framework for using ENSO forecasts from climate and statistical models in order to predict changes in key components of the marine ecosystem in the California Current System. Click […]

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A framework for ENSO predictability of marine ecosystem drivers along the US West Coast

February 16, 2017

The US West Coast eastern boundary upwelling system supports one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world and is a primary source of ecosystem services for the US (e.g., fishing, shipping, and recreation). Long-term historical observations of physical and biological variables in this region have been collected since the 1950s (e.g., the CalCOFI […]

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ENSO impacts on ecosystem indicators in the California Current System

February 16, 2017

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events activate long-distance teleconnections through the atmosphere and ocean that can dramatically impact marine ecosystems along the West Coast of North America, affecting diverse organisms ranging from plankton to exploitable and protected species. Such ENSO-related changes to marine ecosystems can ultimately affect humans in many ways, including via depressed plankton and […]

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Dominant physical mechanisms driving ecosystem response to ENSO in the California Current System

February 16, 2017

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a dominant driver of interannual variability in the physical and biogeochemical state of the northeast Pacific, and, consequently, exerts considerable control over the ecological dynamics of the California Current System (CCS). In the CCS, upwelling is the proximate driver of elevated biological production, as it delivers nutrients to the […]

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ENSO diversity and its implications for US West Coast marine ecosystems

February 16, 2017

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the dominant mode of tropical Pacific climate variability at interannual timescales, with profound influences on seasonal weather and ecosystems worldwide. In particular, the physical and biological conditions along the US West Coast, an area that supports one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world, are strongly influenced […]

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