Publication Date:
2022-10-20
Description:
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2018. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Theoretical considerations on factors confounding the interpretation of the oceanic carbon export ratio. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 32(11), (2018); 1644-1658, doi:10.1029/2018GB006003.
Description:
The fraction of primary production exported out of the surface ocean, known as the export ratio (ef ratio), is often used to assess how various factors, including temperature, primary production, phytoplankton size, and community structure, affect the export efficiency of an ecosystem. To investigate possible causes for reported discrepancies in the dominant factors influencing the export efficiency, we develop a metabolism‐based mechanistic model of the ef ratio. Consistent with earlier studies, we find based on theoretical considerations that the ef ratio is a negative function of temperature. We show that the ef ratio depends on the optical depth, defined as the physical depth times the light attenuation coefficient. As a result, varying light attenuation may confound the interpretation of ef ratio when measured at a fixed depth (e.g., 100 m) or at the base of the mixed layer. Finally, we decompose the contribution of individual factors on the seasonality of the ef ratio. Our results show that at high latitudes, the ef ratio at the base of mixed layer is strongly influenced by mixed layer depth and surface irradiation on seasonal time scales. Future studies should report the ef ratio at the base of the euphotic layer or account for the effect of varying light attenuation if measured at a different depth. Overall, our modeling study highlights the large number of factors confounding the interpretation of field observations of the ef ratio.
Description:
Z. L was supported by a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (Grant NNX13AN85H) and the Postdoctoral Scholarship Program at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. N. C. was supported by NASA Grant 5109296. Satellite data, nutrient concentration, and monthly MLD climatology are downloaded from NASA ocean color (http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/cms/), World Ocean Atlas (https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/woa13/), and http://www.ifremer.fr/cerweb/deboyer/mld/home.php, respectively.
Description:
2019-04-13
Keywords:
Oceanic carbon export ratio
;
Net community production
;
Export production
;
Net primary production
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
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