ALBERT

Beschreibung: As part of the Mercury Experiment to Assess Atmospheric Loading in Canada and the U.S. (METAALICUS), different stable Hg(II) isotope spikes were applied to the upland and wetland areas of a boreal catchment between 2001 and 2006 to examine retention of newly deposited Hg(II). In the present study, a Geographical Information Systems (GIS)-based approach was used to quantify canopy and ground vegetation pools of experimentally applied upland and wetland spike Hg within the METAALICUS watershed over the terrestrial loading phase of the experiment. A chemical kinetic model was also used to describe the changes in spike Hg concentrations of canopy and ground vegetation over time. An examination of the fate of spike Hg initially present on canopy vegetation using a mass balance approach indicated that the largest percentage flux from the canopy over one year post-spray was emission to the atmosphere (upland: 45%; wetland: 71%), followed by litterfall (upland: 14%; wetland: 10%) and throughfall fluxes (upland: 12%; wetland: 9%) and longer term retention of spike in the forest canopy (11% for both upland and wetland). Average half-lives (t1/2) of spike on deciduous (110 ± 30 days) and coniferous (180 ± 40 days) canopy and ground vegetation (890 ± 620 days) indicated that retention of new atmospheric Hg(II) on terrestrial (especially ground) vegetation delays downward transport of new atmospheric Hg(II) into the soil profile and runoff into lakes.

Beschreibung: We present a lake-wide investigation of Lake Superior carbon and organic matter biogeochemistry using radiocarbon, stable isotope, and carbon concentrations. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) abundance in the lake was 121–122 Tg C, with offshore concentration and δ13C values being laterally homogenous and tightly coupled to the physical and thermal regime and biochemical processes. Offshore Δ14C of DIC (50–65‰) exhibited lateral homogeneity and was more 14C enriched than co-occurring atmospheric CO2 (∼38‰); nearshore Δ14C of DIC (36–38‰) was similar to atmospheric CO2. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) abundance was 14.2–16.4 Tg C. DOC's concentration and δ13C were homogenous in June (mixed lake), but varied laterally during August (stratification) possibly due to spatial differences in lake productivity. Throughout sampling, DOC had modern radiocarbon values (14–58‰) indicating a semilabile nature with a turnover time of ≤60 years. Lake particulate organic carbon (POC, 0.9–1.3 Tg C) was consistently 13C depleted relative to DOC. The δ15N of epilimnetic particulate organic nitrogen shifted to more negative values during stratification possibly indicating greater use of nitrate (rather than ammonium) by phytoplankton in August. POC's radiocarbon was spatially heterogeneous (Δ14C range: 58‰ to −303‰), and generally 14C depleted relative to DOC and DIC. POC 14C depletion could not be accounted for by black carbon in the lake but, because of its spatial and temporal distribution, is attributed to sediment resuspension. The presence of old POC within the epilimnion of the open lake indicates possible benthic-pelagic coupling in the lake's organic carbon cycle; the ultimate fate of this old POC bears further investigation.

Beschreibung: Atmospheric deposition is one of the major sources of nutrients bringing trace metals to remote marine biota. In this study, total atmospheric deposition and crustal aerosol concentrations were monitored at Kerguelen Islands (49°18′S; 70°07′E) in the Southern Ocean during a short campaign in early 2005 and then continuously for about 2 years (2009–2010). Results show very low levels of atmospheric dust and trace metals concentrations but higher deposition fluxes than expected. The averaged total dust deposition flux as derived from Al deposition measurements is 659 μg m−2 d−1. Simultaneously measured Fe and Co deposition fluxes are respectively 29 μg m−2 d−1 (520 nmol m−2 d−1) and 0.014 μg m−2 d−1 (0.24 nmol m−2 d−1), giving typically crustal elemental ratios to Al of 0.54 and 2.6 10−4. Measured dust deposition is in relatively good agreement with those simulated by current atmospheric models, but suggest that previous indirect calculations from field experiments are too low by a factor of 20. Observations and model results show that dust is transported above the marine atmospheric boundary layer to Kerguelen Islands, and thus that surface concentrations are not representative of the total dust column. Indeed, using surface concentrations leads to very large computed wet scavenging ratios, and to the conclusion that it is not appropriate to derive deposition fluxes from surface concentrations at remote ocean sites.

Beschreibung: Northern high-latitude rivers transport large amounts of terrestrially derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) from boreal and arctic ecosystems to coastal areas and oceans. Current knowledge of the biodegradability of DOM in these rivers is limited, particularly for large rivers discharging to the Arctic Ocean. We conducted a seasonally comprehensive study of biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) dynamics in the Yukon River and two of its tributaries in Alaska, USA. Distinct seasonal patterns of BDOC, consistent across a wide range of watershed size, indicate BDOC is transported year-round. Relative biodegradability (%BDOC) was greatest during winter, and decreased into spring and summer. Due to large seasonal differences in DOC concentration, the greatest concentrations of BDOC (mg C L−1) occurred during spring freshet, followed by winter and summer. While chemical composition of DOM was an important driver of BDOC, the overriding control of BDOC was mineral nutrient availability due to wide shifts in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stoichiometry across seasons. We calculated seasonal and annual loads of BDOC exported by the Yukon River by applying measured BDOC concentrations to daily water discharge values, and also by applying an empirical correlation between %BDOC and the ratio of DOC to dissolved inorganic N (DIN) to total DOC loads. The Yukon River exports ∼0.2 Tg C yr−1 as BDOC that is decomposable within 28 days. This corresponds to 12–18% of the total annual DOC export. Furthermore, we calculate that the six largest arctic rivers, including the Yukon River, collectively export ∼2.3 Tg C yr−1 as BDOC to the Arctic Ocean.

Beschreibung: Previous work estimating the N2 excess above background due to denitrification has suggested that nitrate deficit-type methods may be an underestimate of fixed nitrogen (N) loss in the major oxygen deficient zones of the ocean. The N2 excess approach has the advantage over nitrate deficit-type methods in that it does not depend on stoichiometric assumptions of fixed N to phosphate or oxygen utilization and avoids any uncertainly regarding the pathway of N loss. Measurements of N2:Ar from two stations within the eastern tropical North Pacific and from one station within the Arabian Sea oxygen deficient zones were used to determine the N2 excess due to denitrification. In both of the regions, the N2 excess was comparable in shape and magnitude to the concurrent fixed nitrogen deficit. In the eastern tropical North Pacific oxygen deficient zone, the N2 excess was near zero at the surface and rose to maxima of 13.7 ± 1.8 and 10.8 ± 1.9 μM N, compared to maximum fixed N deficits of 13.5 ± 1.5 and 12.3 ± 1.5 μM N, respectively. In the Arabian Sea oxygen deficient zone, the maximum N2 excess was 11.1 ± 1.5 μM N, compared to a maximum deficit of 12.5 ± 1.0 μM N. These results suggests that previous estimates of fixed N loss based on fixed N deficit calculations in these regions are likely reasonable, given the same considerations of volume and residence time of the water of the oxygen deficient zone.

Beschreibung: Empirical transfer functions are derived for predicting the total benthic nitrate loss (LNO3) and the net loss of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (LDIN) in marine sediments, equivalent to sedimentary denitrification. The functions are dynamic vertically integrated sediment models which require the rain rate of particulate organic carbon to the seafloor (RRPOC) and a proposed new variable (O2-NO3)bw (bottom water O2 concentration minus NO3− concentration) as the only input parameters. Applied globally to maps of RRPOC and (O2-NO3)bw on a 1° × 1° spatial resolution, the models predict a NO3− drawdown of 196 Tg yr−1 (LNO3) of which 153 – 155 Tg yr−1 is denitrified to N2 (LDIN). This is in good agreement with previous estimates using very different methods. Our approach implicitly accounts for fixed N loss via anammox, such that our findings do not support the idea that the relatively recent discovery of anammox in marine sediments might require current estimates of the global benthic marine N budget to be revised. The continental shelf (0 – 200 m) accounts for 〉50% of global LNO3 and LDIN, with slope (200 – 2000 m) and deep-sea (〉2000 m) sediments contributing ca. 30% and 20%, respectively. Denitrification in high-nitrate/low-oxygen regions such as oxygen minimum zones is significant (ca. 15 Tg N yr−1; 10% of global) despite covering only ∼1% of the seafloor. The data are used to estimate the net fluxes of nitrate (18 Tg N yr−1) and phosphate (27 Tg P yr−1) across the sediment-water interface. The benthic fluxes strongly deviate from Redfield composition, with globally averaged N:P, N:C and C:P values of 8.3, 0.067 and 122, respectively, indicating world-wide fixed N losses (by denitrification) relative to C and P. The transfer functions are designed to be coupled dynamically to general circulation models to better predict the feedback of sediments on pelagic nutrient cycling and dissolved O2 distributions.

Beschreibung: We compared net community production determined from an in situ O2/Ar mass balance (O2/Ar-NCP) with incubation measurements of new and primary production in the subarctic northeast Pacific. In situ O2/Ar-NCP was strongly correlated to new production from 24-h 15NO3− uptake integrated over the mixed layer (15N-NewP), if measurements were separated into high and low-productivity conditions. Under high-productivity conditions, O2/Ar-NCP estimates were similar to 15N-NewP, whereas under low productivity conditions O2/Ar-NCP was up to two times higher than 15N-NewP. The relationship between O2/Ar-NCP and 24-h 13C primary production (13C-PP) was more variable, but with a consistent mean O2/Ar-NCP: 13C-PP ratio of 0.52 ± 0.17 when only low-productivity, summer measurements were considered. This relationship with primary production is perturbed by high productivity events such as a late-summer, iron-stimulated bloom observed at the offshore stations. Finally, we show that diapycnal mixing usually dominates the O2/Ar mass balance in winter in the subarctic Pacific, preventing the determination of NCP by the O2/Ar method at that time, except for one unusual stratification event in February 2007.

Beschreibung: The soil system represents the dominant terrestrial reservoir of carbon in the biosphere. Deforestation, poor land management, and excessive cropping lead to a decrease in soil carbon stocks, but intensive cropping can reverse this trend. We discuss long-term soil organic carbon data from two major rice-growing areas: Java (Indonesia) and South Korea. Soil organic carbon content in the top 15 cm for both countries has increased in recent decades. In South Korea, the top 15 cm of soils store about 31 Tg (1012 g) of carbon (C) with a sequestration rate of 0.3 Tg C per year. In Java, the agricultural topsoils accumulated more than 1.7 Tg C per year over the period 1990–2010. We attribute the increase in measured SOC mainly to increases in above- and below- ground biomass due to fertilization. Good agronomic practices can maintain and increase soil carbon, which ensures soil security to produce food and fiber.

Beschreibung: The Mauritanian upwelling system is one of the most biologically productive regions of the world's oceans. Coastal upwelling transfers nutrients to the sun-lit surface ocean, thereby stimulating phytoplankton growth. Upwelling of deep waters also supplies dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), high levels of which lead to low calcium carbonate saturation states in surface waters, with potentially adverse effects on marine calcifiers. In this study an upwelled filament off the coast of northwest Africa was followed using drifting buoys and sulphur hexafluoride to determine how the carbonate chemistry changed over time as a result of biological, physical and chemical processes. The initial pHtot in the mixed layer of the upwelled plume was 7.94 and the saturation states of calcite and aragonite were 3.4 and 2.2, respectively. As the plume moved offshore over a period of 9 days, biological uptake of DIC (37 μmol kg−1) reduced pCO2 concentrations from 540 to 410 μatm, thereby increasing pHtot to 8.05 and calcite and aragonite saturation states to 4.0 and 2.7 respectively. The increase (25 μmol kg−1) in total alkalinity over the 9 day study period can be accounted for solely by the combined effects of nitrate uptake and processes that alter salinity (i.e., evaporation and mixing with other water masses). We found no evidence of significant alkalinity accumulation as a result of exudation of organic bases by primary producers. The ongoing expansion of oxygen minimum zones through global warming will likely further reduce the CaCO3 saturation of upwelled waters, amplifying any adverse consequences of ocean acidification on the ecosystem of the Mauritanian upwelling system.

Beschreibung: Net primary productivity (NPP) is a key flux in the terrestrial ecosystem carbon balance, as it summarizes the autotrophic input into the system. Forest NPP varies predictably with stand age, and quantitative information on the NPP-age relationship for different regions and forest types is therefore fundamentally important for forest carbon cycle modeling. We used four terms to calculate NPP: annual accumulation of live biomass, annual mortality of aboveground and belowground biomass, foliage turnover to soil, and fine root turnover in soil. For U.S. forests the first two terms can be reliably estimated from the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data. Although the last two terms make up more than 50% of total NPP, direct estimates of these fluxes are highly uncertain due to limited availability of empirical relationships between aboveground biomass and foliage or fine root biomass. To resolve this problem, we developed a new approach using maps of leaf area index (LAI) and forest age at 1 km resolution to derive LAI-age relationships for 18 major forest type groups in the USA. These relationships were then used to derive foliage turnover estimates using species-specific trait data for leaf specific area and longevity. These turnover estimates were also used to derive the fine root turnover based on reliable relationships between fine root and foliage turnover. This combination of FIA data, remote sensing, and plant trait information allows for the first empirical and reliable NPP-age relationships for different forest types in the USA. The relationships show a general temporal pattern of rapid increase in NPP in the young ages of forest type groups, peak growth in the middle ages, and slow decline in the mature ages. The predicted patterns are influenced by climate conditions and can be affected by forest management. These relationships were further generalized to three major forest biomes for use by continental-scale carbon cycle models in conjunction with remotely sensed land cover types.

Beschreibung: Modern-day coral reefs have well defined environmental envelopes for light, sea surface temperature (SST) and seawater aragonite saturation state (Ωarag). We examine the changes in global coral reef habitat on multimillennial timescales with regard to SST and Ωarag using a climate model including a three-dimensional ocean general circulation model, a fully coupled carbon cycle, and six different parameterizations for continental weathering (the UVic Earth System Climate Model). The model is forced with emission scenarios ranging from 1,000 Pg C to 5,000 Pg C total emissions. We find that the long-term climate change response is independent of the rate at which CO2 is emitted over the next few centuries. On millennial timescales, the weathering feedback introduces a significant uncertainty even for low emission scenarios. Weathering parameterizations based on atmospheric CO2 only display a different transient response than weathering parameterizations that are dependent on temperature. Although environmental conditions for SST and Ωarag stay globally hostile for coral reefs for millennia for our high emission scenarios, some weathering parameterizations induce a near-complete recovery of coral reef habitat to current conditions after 10,000 years, while others result in a collapse of coral reef habitat throughout our simulations. We find that the multimillennial response in sea surface temperature (SST) substantially lags the aragonite saturation recovery in all configurations. This implies that if corals can naturally adapt over millennia by selecting thermally tolerant species to match warmer ocean temperatures, prospects for long-term recovery of coral reefs are better since Ωarag recovers more quickly than SST.

Beschreibung: We investigated the phenology of oceanic phytoplankton at large scales over two 5-year time periods: 1979–1983 and 1998–2002. Two ocean-color satellite data archives (Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) and Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS)) were used to investigate changes in seasonal patterns of concentration-normalized chlorophyll. The geographic coverage was constrained by the CZCS data distribution. It was best for the Northern Hemisphere and also encompassed large areas of the Indian, South Pacific, and Equatorial Atlantic regions. For each 2° pixel, monthly climatologies were developed for satellite-derived chlorophyll, and the resulting seasonal cycles were statistically grouped using cluster analysis. Five distinct groups of mean seasonal cycles were identified for each half-decade period. Four types were common to both time periods and correspond to previously identified phytoplankton regimes: Bloom, Tropical, Subtropical North, and Subtropical South. Two other mean seasonal cycles, one in each of the two compared 5-year periods, were related to transitional or intermediate states (Transitional Tropical and Transitional Bloom). Five mean seasonal cycles (Bloom, Tropical, Subtropical North, and Subtropical South, Transitional Bloom) were further confirmed when the whole SeaWiFS data set (1998–2010) was analyzed. For ∼35% of the pixels analyzed, characteristic seasonal cycles of the 1979–1983 years differed little from those of the 1998–2002 period. For ∼65% of the pixels, however, phytoplankton seasonality patterns changed markedly, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. Subtropical regions of the North Pacific and Atlantic experienced a widespread expansion of the Transitional Bloom regime, which appeared further enhanced in the climatology based on the full SeaWiFS record (1998–2010), and, as showed by a more detailed analysis, is associated to La Niña years. This spatial pattern of Transitional Bloom regime reflects a general smoothing of seasonality at macroscale, coming into an apparent greater temporal synchrony of the Northern Hemisphere. The Transitional Bloom regime is also the result of a higher variability, both in space and time. The observed change in phytoplankton dynamics may be related not only to biological interactions but also to large-scale changes in the coupled atmosphere–ocean system. Some connections are indeed found with climate indices. Changes were observed among years belonging to opposite phases of ENSO, though discernible from the change among the two periods and within the SeaWiFS era (1998–2010). These linkages are considered preliminary at present and are worthy of further investigation.

Beschreibung: Total (TOC) and dissolved (DOC) organic carbon vertical profiles were analyzed from 11 stations located in various regions of the Mediterranean Sea, together with the distribution of other physical, chemical and biological parameters. TOC showed the highest concentrations (68–83 μM) above the pycnocline, followed by a marked decrease to values of 45–48 μM at 100–200 m. Below 200 m, values of 40–45 μM were observed. The excess TOC and DOC occurring at each station was calculated by subtracting 48 μM from the observed concentrations. The stock of the excess TOC and DOC increased eastward; while surface DOC mineralization rates decreased from 1.5 μM d−1 to 0.26 μM d−1 eastward. The integrated average of the biological parameters in the above-pycnocline layer showed a bacterial production versus particulate primary production (BP/PPP) ratio ranging from 22% in the Ionian Sea (MIO station) to 31% in the Ligurian Sea (Dyfamed station), while bacterial carbon demand versus PPP was higher than 100%, considering a bacterial growth efficiency of both 15% and 30%. The data here reported indicate various scenarios of carbon dynamics. At the stations west of the Sardinian Channel, the microbial loop was very active, and a high flux of carbon to the microbial loop (large bacterial and protist abundance) may be hypothesized, which would result in a low DOC concentration. At the stations east of the Sardinian Channel, no significant longitudinal variation was found in DOC and BP. DOC accumulated at these stations, possibly due to bacteria P-limitation, to DOC chemical composition and/or to the occurrence of different prokaryotic populations with a different ability to consume the available DOC.

Beschreibung: Gross photosynthetic O2 production (GOP) rates in the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean were estimated using the measured isotopic composition of dissolved oxygen in the surface layer on samples collected on nine transits of a container ship between Great Britain and Canada during March 2007 to June 2008. The mean basin-wide GOP rate of 226 ± 48 mmol O2 m−2 d−1 during summer was double the winter rate of 107 ± 41 mmol O2 m−2 d−1. Converting these GOP rates to equivalent 14C-based PP (14C-PPeqv) yielded rates of 1005 ± 216 and 476 ± 183 mg C m−2 d−1 in summer and winter, respectively, that generally agreed well with previous 14C-based PP estimates in the region. The 14C-PPeqv estimates were 1–1.6× concurrent satellite-based PP estimates along the cruise track. A net community production rate (NCP) of 87 ± 12 mmol O2 m−2 d−1 (62 ± 9 mmol C m−2 d−1) and NCP/GOP of 0.35 ± 0.06 in the mixed layer was estimated from O2/Ar and 17Δ measurements (61°N 26°W) during spring bloom conditions in May 2008. Contrastingly, a much lower long-term annual mean NCP or organic carbon export rate of 2.8 ± 2.7 mol C m−2 yr−1 (8 ± 7 mmol C m−2 d−1) and NCP/GOP of 0.07 ± 0.06 at the winter mixed layer depth was estimated from 15 years of surface O2 data in the subpolar N. Atlantic collected during the CARINA program.

Beschreibung: Previous case studies have illustrated the strong local influence of tropical cyclones (TCs) on CO2 air-sea flux (FCO2), suggesting that they can significantly contribute to the global FCO2. In this study, we use a state-of-the art global ocean biochemical model driven by TCs wind forcing derived from a historical TCs database, allowing to sample the FCO2 response under 1663 TCs. Our results evidence a very weak contribution of TCs to global FCO2, one or two order of magnitude smaller than previous estimates extrapolated from case studies. This result arises from several competing effects involved in the FCO2 response to TCs, not accounted for in previous studies. While previous estimates have hypothesized the ocean to be systematically oversaturated in CO2 under TCs, our results reveal that a similar proportion of TCs occur over oversaturated regions (i.e. the North Atlantic, Northeast Pacific and the Arabian Sea) and undersaturated regions (i.e. Westernmost North Pacific, South Indian and Pacific Ocean). Consequently, by increasing the gas exchange coefficient, TCs can generate either instantaneous CO2 flux directed from the ocean to the atmosphere (efflux) or the opposite (influx), depending on the CO2 conditions at the time of the TC passage. A large portion of TCs also occurs over regions where the ocean and the atmosphere are in near equilibrium, resulting in very weak instantaneous fluxes. Previous estimates also did not account for any asynchronous effect of TCs on FCO2: during several weeks after the storm, oceanic pCO2 is reduced in response to vertical mixing, which systematically causes an influx anomaly. This implies that, contrary to previous estimates, TCs weakly affect the CO2 efflux when they blow over supersaturated areas because the instantaneous storm wind effect and post-storm mixing effect oppose with each other. In contrast, TCs increase the CO2 influx in undersaturated conditions because the two effects add up. These compensating effects result in a very weak contribution to global FCO2 and a very modest contribution to regional interannual variations (up to 10%).

Beschreibung: The impact of low-frequency climate modes on the large-scale variability of chlorophyll-a (a proxy for phytoplankton biomass) concentration in the subtropics is little known. Here we examined the concurrent monthly chlorophyll-a and hydrographical records obtained at two subtropical time series stations (Bermuda Atlantic Time series Study, BATS and European Station for Time series in the Ocean Canary Islands, ESTOC) from the beginning of the time series (1989 at BATS and 1994 at ESTOC) to 2003, in order to analyze its seasonal and interannual variability and investigate the potential correlation with large-scale atmospheric oscillations. At BATS, Chl-a variations are mainly caused by differences in the convective mixing and mesoscale phenomena. Variability in winter mixing is a significant factor at ESTOC as exemplified by years with anomalously deep mixed layer depths. An additional nutrient source causing Chl-a variability at this station likely occurs due to nutrient advection driven by the baroclinic flow caused by the Trade Winds during summertime. We found that interannual variability in mean integrated total Chl-a (TChl-a) is significantly correlated with temperature and salinity anomalies at BATS. Chl-a also covaried with changes in temperature although the correlation was not significant at ESTOC. We could not find any direct correlation between TChl-a and NAO at BATS; the correlation improved between TChl-a and NAO +1 year but was still insignificant. However, significant correlations were found for ESTOC between TChl-a anomalies and ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) +3 years and NAO +1 year time lag.

Beschreibung: Deuterium-excess (d) in water is a combination of the oxygen (δ18O) and hydrogen (δD) isotope ratios, and its variability is thought to indicate the location and environmental conditions of the marine moisture source. In this study, we analyze d of water vapor (dv) from six sites, all between 37 and 44°N to examine patterns in the atmospheric surface layer and identify the main drivers of variability. Two sites are in urban settings (New Haven, CT, USA and Beijing, China), two sites are in agricultural settings (Rosemount, MN, USA and Luancheng, China), and two sites are in natural ecosystems, a forest (Borden Forest, Ontario, Canada) and a grassland (Duolun, China). We found a robust diurnal cycle in dv at all sites with maximum values during mid-day. Isotopic land surface model simulations suggest that plant transpiration is one mechanism underlying the diurnal pattern. An isotopic large-eddy simulation model shows that entrainment of the free atmosphere into the boundary layer can also produce high dv values in mid-day. Daily mid-day means of dv were negatively correlated with local mid-day relative humidity and positively correlated with planetary boundary layer height at the North American sites, but not the Chinese sites. The mechanism for these differences is still undetermined. These results demonstrate that within the diurnal time scale, dv of the surface air at continental locations can be significantly altered by local processes, and is therefore not a conserved tracer of humidity from the marine moisture source region as has previously been assumed.

Beschreibung: Climate change and human activities are expected to have a major impact on the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems and the biogeochemical cycles they mediate in the coming years. Here we describe time series measurements of biogenic bromocarbons (CHBr3 and CH2Br2) collected in coastal waters of the western Antarctic Peninsula which is one of the world's most rapidly changing marine environments. Our measurements spanned a period of changing sea-ice dynamics and phytoplankton community structure driven by climatic forcing. Specifically, the occurrence of high chlorophyll a concentrations (≥5 μg L−1) and dominance of the largest phytoplankton size fraction (≥20 μm) indicating diatom bloom conditions was reduced following winter periods with a relatively short winter sea-ice duration (

Beschreibung: While much of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) within rivers is destined for mineralization to CO2, a substantial fraction of riverine bicarbonate (HCO3−) flux represents a CO2 sink, as a result of weathering processes that sequester CO2 as HCO3−. We explored landscape-level controls on DOC and HCO3− flux in subcatchments of the boreal, with a specific focus on the effect of permafrost on riverine dissolved C flux. To do this, we undertook a multivariate analysis that partitioned the variance attributable to known, key regulators of dissolved C flux (runoff, lithology, and vegetation) prior to examining the effect of permafrost, using riverine biogeochemistry data from a suite of subcatchments drawn from the Mackenzie, Yukon, East, and West Siberian regions of the circumboreal. Across the diverse catchments that we study, controls on HCO3− flux were near-universal: runoff and an increased carbonate rock contribution to weathering (assessed as riverwater Ca:Na) increased HCO3− yields, while increasing permafrost extent was associated with decreases in HCO3−. In contrast, permafrost had contrasting and region-specific effects on DOC yield, even after the variation caused by other key drivers of its flux had been accounted for. We used ionic ratios and SO4 yields to calculate the potential range of CO2 sequestered via weathering across these boreal subcatchments, and show that decreasing permafrost extent is associated with increases in weathering-mediated CO2 fixation across broad spatial scales, an effect that could counterbalance some of the organic C mineralization that is predicted with declining permafrost.

Beschreibung: The organic carbon stock in permafrost is of increasing interest in environmental research, because during the late Quaternary a large pool of organic carbon accumulated in the sedimentary deposits of arctic permafrost. Because of its potential to degrade and release organic carbon, the organic-matter inventory of Yedoma Ice Complex deposits is relevant to current concerns about the effects of global warming. In this context, it is essential to improve the understanding of preserved carbon quantities and characteristics. The paper aims to clarify the Yedoma Ice Complex origin, and to develop an approach for volumetric organic-matter quantification. Therefore, we analyzed the grain size and the organic-matter characteristics of the deposits exposed at the stratigraphic key site Duvanny Yar (lower Kolyma River, northeast Siberia). A distinct bimodal grain-size distribution confirms a polygenetic origin of the frozen sediments from a floodplain environment. The total organic-carbon content averages 1.5 ± 1.4 wt% while the volumetric organic-carbon content averages 14 ± 8 kg/m3. However, large-scale extrapolations for Yedoma Ice Complex deposits in general are not reasonable yet because of their rather unclear spatial distribution. We conclude that Yedoma Ice Complex formation at Duvanny Yar was dominated by water-related (alluvial/fluvial/lacustrine) as well as aeolian processes. The total organic-carbon content of the studied deposits is low if compared to other profiles, but it is still a significant pool.

Beschreibung: Aeolian dust transport from the Saharan/Sahel desert regions is considered the dominant external input of iron (Fe) to the surface waters of the eastern (sub-) tropical North Atlantic Ocean. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the sources of dissolved Fe (DFe) and quantified DFe fluxes to the surface ocean in this region. In winter 2008, surface water DFe concentrations varied between 1.5 nM) correlated positively with apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) and showed the importance of organic matter remineralization as an DFe source. As a consequence, vertical diffusive mixing formed an important Fe flux to the surface ocean in this region, even surpassing that of a major dust event.

Beschreibung: We assess the global balance of calcite export through the water column and burial in sediments as it varies regionally. We first drive a comprehensive 1-D model for sediment calcite preservation with globally gridded field observations and satellite-based syntheses. We then reformulate this model into a simpler five-parameter box model, and combine it with algorithms for surface calcite export and water column dissolution for a single expression for the vertical calcite balance. The resulting metamodel is optimized to fit the observed distributions of calcite burial flux. We quantify the degree to which calcite export, saturation state, organic carbon respiration, and lithogenic sedimentation modulate the burial of calcite. We find that 46% of burial and 88% of dissolution occurs in sediments overlain by undersaturated bottom water with sediment calcite burial strongly modulated by surface export. Relative to organic carbon export, we find surface calcite export skewed geographically toward relatively warm, oligotrophic areas dominated by small, prokaryotic phytoplankton. We assess century-scale projected impacts of warming and acidification on calcite export, finding high sensitive to inferred saturation state controls. With respect to long-term glacial cycling, our analysis supports the hypothesis that strong glacial abyssal stratification drives the lysocline toward much closer correspondence with the saturation horizon. Our analysis suggests that, over the transition from interglacial to glacial ocean, a resulting ∼0.029 PgC a−1 decrease in deep Atlantic, Indian and Southern Ocean calcite burial leads to slow increase in ocean alkalinity until Pacific mid-depth calcite burial increases to compensate.

Beschreibung: Terrestrial ecosystem models (TEMs) contain the coupling of many biogeochemical processes with a large number of parameters involved. In many cases those parameters are highly uncertain. In order to reduce those uncertainties, parameter estimation methods can be applied, which allow the model to be constrained against observations. We compare the performance and results of two such parameter estimation techniques - the Metropolis algorithm (MA) which is a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method and the adjoint approach as it is used in the Carbon Cycle Data Assimilation System (CCDAS). Both techniques are applied here to derive the posterior probability density function (PDF) for 19 parameters of the Biosphere Energy Transfer and Hydrology (BETHY) scheme. We also use the MA to sample the posterior parameter distribution from the adjoint inversion. This allows us to assess if the commonly made assumption in variational data assimilation, that everything is normally distributed, holds. The comparison of the posterior parameter PDF derived by both methods shows that in most cases an approximation of the PDF by a normal distribution as used by the adjoint approach is a valid assumption. The results also indicate that the global minimum has been identified by both methods for the given set up. However, the adjoint approach outperforms the MA by several orders of magnitude in terms of computational time. Both methods show good agreement in the PDF of estimated net carbon fluxes for the decades of the 1980s and 1990s.

Beschreibung: Primary production in large areas of the open ocean is limited by low iron concentrations. Rivers are potential sources of iron to the ocean, however, riverine iron is prone to intense flocculation and sedimentation in the estuarine mixing zone. Here we report the detection of iron-rich nanoparticles in a typical peatland-draining creek which are resistant against salt-induced flocculation i.e., their behavior is in sharp contrast to the well-known behavior of Fe colloids in river waters. Sample fractionation by AsFlFFF (Asymmetric Flow Field Flow Fractionation) revealed that these powerful iron carriers are in the size range of only 0.5–3.0 nm hydrodynamic diameter. They were isolated from the water phase using solid phase extraction/gel permeation chromatography, and analyzed by a CuO oxidation/GC-MS method. Our results suggest that the particles consist mainly of lignin catabolites and that gymnosperm as well as angiosperm tissues are contributors to the seawater-resistant iron-bearing DOM. Lignin phenols, which have no autochthonous source in the ocean, have been nevertheless found in low concentrations throughout the entire Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. It is therefore tempting to speculate that peatland-derived iron-bearing lignin particles may have a sufficiently long half-life in ocean waters to sustain iron concentration in extended regions of the ocean.

Beschreibung: The global tropospheric budget of gaseous and particulate non-methane organic matter (OM) is re-examined to provide a holistic view of the role that OM plays in transporting the essential nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus to the ocean. A global 3-dimensional chemistry-transport model was used to construct the first global picture of atmospheric transport and deposition of the organic nitrogen (ON) and organic phosphorus (OP) that are associated with OM, focusing on the soluble fractions of these nutrients. Model simulations agree with observations within an order of magnitude. Depending on location, the observed water soluble ON fraction ranges from ∼3% to 90% (median of ∼35%) of total soluble N in rainwater; soluble OP ranges from ∼20–83% (median of ∼35%) of total soluble phosphorus. The simulations suggest that the global ON cycle has a strong anthropogenic component with ∼45% of the overall atmospheric source (primary and secondary) associated with anthropogenic activities. In contrast, only 10% of atmospheric OP is emitted from human activities. The model-derived present-day soluble ON and OP deposition to the global ocean is estimated to be ∼16 Tg-N/yr and ∼0.35 Tg-P/yr respectively with an order of magnitude uncertainty. Of these amounts ∼40% and ∼6%, respectively, are associated with anthropogenic activities, and 33% and 90% are recycled oceanic materials. Therefore, anthropogenic emissions are having a greater impact on the ON cycle than the OP cycle; consequently increasing emissions may increase P-limitation in the oligotrophic regions of the world's ocean that rely on atmospheric deposition as an important nutrient source.

Beschreibung: Particulate nitrogen (PN) dynamics in the oligotrophic northern South China Sea (around the SouthEast Asian Time-series Study (SEATS) station) was explored by examining the isotopic compositions of suspended PN in the top 200 m over 3 years and sinking PN collected by sediment traps. The PN inventory (IPN) in the upper 100 m is larger than in the lower 100 m, exhibiting stronger seasonality. Both layers reveal significant seasonality in mean δ15NPN, yet, the mean in the upper 100 m (2.0 to 5.3‰) is consistently smaller than that in the lower 100 m, implying the occurrence of vertical biological fractionation and/or an addition of 15N-depleted N from the atmosphere. The δ15NPN surges in winter, when the mixed layer is deeper, indicate an intensified nitrate supply from thermocline, during which relatively stronger downward transfer efficiency was inferred by a small IPN gradient. The largest vertical gradient in IPN appeared during intermonsoon periods, corresponding with weak vertical mixing, low δ15NPN, and high N* values. N fixation is likely the cause for the intermonsoon δ15NPN lows. The δ15NPN values of trapped material at 374 m and 447 m range from 3.3 to 7.3‰ with a flux-weighted mean of 5.6‰ resembling the δ15NO3 of upwelled sources. By using a mass-isotope balance model under the assumption of no atmospheric N deposition, we obtained an N fixation input of ∼20 ± 26 mmol N m−2 yr−1. This value accounts for only ∼5–10% of the new production on an annual basis.

Beschreibung: Seawater dissolved iron isotope ratios (δ56Fe) have been measured in the North Atlantic near Bermuda. In a full-depth profile, seawater dissolved δ56Fe is isotopically heavy compared to crustal values throughout the water column (δ56FeIRMM-014 = +0.30‰ to +0.71‰). Iron isotope ratios are relatively homogenous in the upper water column (between +0.30‰ to +0.45‰ above 1500 m), and δ56Fe increases below this to a maximum of +0.71‰ at 2500 m, decreasing again to +0.35‰ at 4200 m. The δ56Fe profile is very different from the iron concentration profile; in the upper water column [Fe] is variable while δ56Fe is relatively constant, and in the deeper water column δ56Fe varies while [Fe] remains relatively constant. The δ56Fe profile is also not well correlated with other hydrographic tracers in the North Atlantic such as temperature, salinity, or the concentrations of oxygen, phosphate, silica, and CFC-11. The dissimilarity between δ56Fe profiles and profiles of [Fe] and other hydrographic tracers shows that Fe isotope ratios provide a unique sort of information about ocean chemistry, and they suggest that Fe isotopes may therefore be a valuable new tool for tracing the global sources, sinks, and biogeochemical cycling of Fe.

Beschreibung: In the past 800 thousand years and before industrialization, the largest variations in atmospheric CO2 concentration (pCO2) occurred in connection with the glacial cycles that characterized Earth's climate over this period. One curious feature of at least the last four glacial-interglacial cycles is that atmospheric pCO2 reached about the same upper limit of 280 ppm during peak interglacial periods and about the same lower limit of 180 ppm during peak glacial periods. Here, we show using a numerical model of earth system that enhanced shelf sediment weathering during glacial sea level lowstands tends to raise pCO2 even after carbonate compensation and thus stabilize pCO2 from further reduction. This is because not all nutrients from weathering will be utilized by biology but more importantly because the spatial distributions of carbon and phosphorus from weathering become decoupled in such a way that carbon is preferentially stored in the upper ocean and phosphorus in the deep ocean. In addition, the C:P ratios in continental margin sediments are generally much higher than the Redfield ratio due to preferential remineralization of phosphorus in shelf sediment diagenesis. When these factors are accounted for in our model, the input of organic matter, which corresponds to the observed negative shift in ocean δ13C during glacial periods, raises pCO2 by approximately 14 ppm. The same mechanisms operating in the opposite directions during interglacial highstand tend to lower pCO2 and stabilize it from further increase. The impact of sea level-driven continental shelf exposure and submersion of CO2 is therefore a negative feedback that may have contributed to limiting the variation of Pleistocene pCO2 to the observed 100 ppm range.

Beschreibung: A great deal of attention, both negative and positive, has been directed at the potential of large-scale iron fertilization schemes to sequester carbon by inducing phytoplankton blooms that would, in theory, result in significant export of organic carbon to the deep ocean in high nitrogen - low chlorophyll regions. A suite of iron manipulation or ‘patch’ experiments has been performed over length-scales of 10s of km. Here, we use a physical-ecological-chemical model, with prognostic nitrogen, silica and iron dynamics, to study one of the most successful of these experiments, the Subarctic Ecosystem Response to Iron Enrichment Study (SERIES), focusing on the vertical export of organic material, which is difficult to observe in the field. The implications of large-scale fertilization, i.e. increasing patch size, are investigated. Our results agree with the general conclusions obtained from the field experiments. Only a modest export of organic carbon occurs (less than 25% of carbon uptake by phytoplankton) at the base of the mixed layer. Furthermore, we show that lateral and vertical supply of silicic acid is necessary to fuel a sustained phytoplankton bloom. Increasing patch size results in less lateral nutrient supply relative to patch area and so a decrease, not only in total production (per unit area), but in the contribution by large phytoplankton due to silica limitation. Most importantly, the export of organic carbon (per unit area) decreases substantially, by nearly an order of magnitude, as scales of 1000 km are approached.

Beschreibung: Based on measurements from the WOCE/JGOFS global CO2 survey, the CLIVAR/CO2 Repeat Hydrography Program and the Canadian Line P survey, we have observed an average decrease of 0.34% yr−1 in the saturation state of surface seawater in the Pacific Ocean with respect to aragonite and calcite. The upward migrations of the aragonite and calcite saturation horizons, averaging about 1 to 2 m yr−1, are the direct result of the uptake of anthropogenic CO2 by the oceans and regional changes in circulation and biogeochemical processes. The shoaling of the saturation horizon is regionally variable, with more rapid shoaling in the South Pacific where there is a larger uptake of anthropogenic CO2. In some locations, particularly in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre and in the California Current, the decadal changes in circulation can be the dominant factor in controlling the migration of the saturation horizon. If CO2 emissions continue as projected over the rest of this century, the resulting changes in the marine carbonate system would mean that many coral reef systems in the Pacific would no longer be able to sustain a sufficiently high rate of calcification to maintain the viability of these ecosystems as a whole, and these changes perhaps could seriously impact the thousands of marine species that depend on them for survival.

Beschreibung: The fractionation of silicon (Si) stable isotopes by biological activity in the surface ocean makes the stable isotope composition of silicon (δ30Si) dissolved in seawater a sensitive tracer of the oceanic biogeochemical Si cycle. We present a high-precision dataset that characterizes the δ30Si distribution in the deep Atlantic Ocean from Denmark Strait to Drake Passage, documenting strong meridional and smaller, but resolvable, vertical δ30Si gradients. We show that these gradients are related to the two sources of deep and bottom waters in the Atlantic Ocean: waters of North Atlantic and Nordic origin carry a high δ30Si signature of ≥+1.7‰ into the deep Atlantic, while Antarctic Bottom Water transports Si with a low δ30Si value of around +1.2‰. The deep Atlantic δ30Si distribution is thus governed by the quasi-conservative mixing of Si from these two isotopically distinct sources. This disparity in Si isotope composition between the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean is in marked contrast to the homogeneity of the stable nitrogen isotope composition of deep ocean nitrate (δ15N-NO3). We infer that the meridional δ30Si gradient derives from the transport of the high δ30Si signature of Southern Ocean intermediate/mode waters into the North Atlantic by the upper return path of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). The basin-scale deep Atlantic δ30Si gradient thus owes its existence to the interaction of the physical circulation with biological nutrient uptake at high southern latitudes, which fractionates Si isotopes between the abyssal and intermediate/mode waters formed in the Southern Ocean.

Beschreibung: Since 1997, ocean color satellite images have revealed large-scale blooms of the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi in the eastern Bering Sea. The blooms are often sustained over several months and have caused ecosystem changes in the Arctic Ocean, as well as in the Bering Sea. We examined continental shelf sediment profiles of alkenone, a biomarker for E. huxleyi, covering the past ∼70 years. The alkenone records suggest that large E. huxleyi blooms are a novel feature in the Bering Sea as they have occurred only since the late 1970s. Recent changes in alkenone content were closely related to the 1976–77 climatic regime shift in the North Pacific, implying that warming and freshening of Bering Sea waters promoted E. huxleyi blooms. The production rate of diatoms (total valves in sediment samples), the dominant primary producers in the Bering Sea, also increased during the past several decades. However, the ratio of alkenone content to total diatom valves in the sediments increased as E. huxleyi production increased, suggesting that the increase in the E. huxleyi production rate frequently exceeded the increase in the diatom production rate. Overall, our results indicate a possible subarctic region ecosystem shift driven by climate change.

Beschreibung: Mineral aerosol deposition is recognized as the dominant source of iron to the open ocean and the solubility of iron in the dust aerosol is highly variable, with measurements ranging from 0.01–80%. Global models have difficulty capturing the observed variations in solubility, and have ignored the solubility dependence on aerosol size. We introduce two idealized physical models to estimate the size dependence of mineral aerosol solubility: a diffusion-controlled model and a surface-area-controlled model. These models produce differing time- and space-varying solubility maps for aerosol Fe and Al given the dust age at deposition, size-resolved dust entrainment fields, and the aerosol acidity. The resulting soluble iron deposition fluxes are substantially different, and more realistic, than a globally uniform solubility approximation. The surface-area-controlled solubility varies more than the diffusion-controlled solubility and better captures the spatial pattern of observed solubility in the Atlantic. However, neither of these two models explains the large solubility variation observed in the Pacific. We then examine the impacts of spatially variable, size-dependent solubility on marine biogeochemistry with the Biogeochemical Elemental Cycling (BEC) ocean model by comparing the modeled surface ocean dissolved Fe and Al with observations. The diffusion-based variable solubility does not significantly improve the simulation of dissolved Fe relative to a 5% globally uniform solubility, while the surface-area-based variable solubility improves the simulation in the North Atlantic but worsens it in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Beschreibung: Understanding the variability and coherence of surface ocean pCO2 on a global scale can provide insights into its physical and biogeochemical drivers and inform future samplings strategies and data assimilation methods. We present temporal and spatial autocorrelation analyses of surface ocean pCO2 on a 5° × 5° grid using the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory database. The seasonal cycle is robust with an interannual autocorrelation of ∼0.4 across multiple years. The global median spatial autocorrelation (e-folding) length is 400 ± 250 km, with large variability across different regions. Autocorrelation lengths of up to 3,000 km are found along major currents and basin gyres while autocorrelation lengths as low as 50 km are found in coastal regions and other areas of physical turbulence. Zonal (east–west) autocorrelation lengths are typically longer than their meridional counterparts, reflecting the zonal nature of many major ocean features. Uncertainties in spatial autocorrelation in different ocean basins are between 42% and 73% of the calculated decorrelation length. The spatial autocorrelation length in air-sea fluxes is much shorter than for pCO2 (200 ± 150 km) due to the high variability of the gas transfer velocity.

Beschreibung: Lentic water bodies (lakes and reservoirs) offer favorable conditions for silica (SiO2) burial in sediments. Recent global estimates suggest that (1) lentic SiO2 trapping is a globally important SiO2 flux, and (2) through reservoir construction, humans have dramatically altered river dissolved SiO2 (DSi) transport and coastal DSi delivery. However, regional to global scale patterns and controls of DSi removal in lentic systems are poorly constrained. Here we use 27 published lake and reservoir DSi budgets to develop insights into patterns and controls of lentic DSi retention and to develop a new, spatially explicit, global model of lentic DSi removal called SiRReLa (Silica Retention in Reservoirs and Lakes). In our analysis, lentic DSi removal (kg SiO2 yr−1) was significantly and positively related to DSi loading (P 〈 0.0001; r2 = 0.98), and DSi removal efficiency was significantly and positively related to water residence time (P 〈 0.0001; r2 = 0.68). In addition, DSi settling rates were, on average, 6.5-fold higher in eutrophic systems than in non-eutrophic systems (median settling velocities: 11.1 and 1.7 m yr−1 for eutrophic and non-eutrophic systems, respectively; P 〈 0.01). SiRReLa, which incorporates these insights, performed quite well in predicting both total DSi removal (kg SiO2 yr−1; Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency (N.S.E) = 0.88) and DSi removal efficiency (% Si removed; N.S.E. = 0.75), with no detectable bias in the model. Global application of SiRReLa confirms that lentic systems are important sinks for DSi, removing 89.1 Tg DSi yr−1 from watersheds globally, roughly 19–38% of all DSi inputs to surface waters. Small lakes and reservoirs (

Beschreibung: The Yangtze is the largest river in Asia and its water composition reflects the activities of about 400 Mio people in its catchment. Its chemical loads have a large impact on the biogeochemistry of the East China Sea. We discuss and quantify the annual dynamics of major ions, nutrients, and trace elements from samples collected monthly at Datong Station from May 2009 to June 2010. The Yangtze today carries 192 × 106 tons of total dissolved solids annually to the East China Sea, which is an increase of 25% compared to the average of 1958–1990. While the loads of dissolved silica (SiO2), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), Ca2+ and Mg2+ compared well with the long-term averages since the 1950s, loads of Na+, Cl−, SO42−, have tripled since 1958–1990. The increase of SO42− is attributed to the burning of coal in the catchment, and 18% of the F− load is estimated to originate from this source. The increase of Na+ and Cl− loads may be anthropogenic as well. The load of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) has increased 15 fold since the early measurements around 1970 and amounts to 1.6 Mt-N/yr today. The particulate concentrations of the typical anthropogenic trace metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn showed enrichment factors between 0.7 – 7 compared to the natural background. Their annual peak concentrations all exceeded the quality targets recommended by the EC up to two times. However, the load of trace elements at Datong decreased by 73–86% (As: 50%) in the past ten years.

Beschreibung: Tundra ecosystems are especially sensitive to climate change, which is particularly rapid in high northern latitudes resulting in significant alterations in temperature and soil moisture. Numerous studies have demonstrated that soil drying increases the respiration loss from wet Arctic tundra. And, warming and drying of tundra soils are assumed to increase CO2 emissions from the Arctic. However, in this water table manipulation experiment (i.e., flooding experiment), we show that flooding of wet tundra can also lead to increased CO2 loss. Standing water increased heat conduction into the soil, leading to higher soil temperature, deeper thaw and, surprisingly, to higher CO2 loss in the most anaerobic of the experimental areas. The study site is located in a drained lake basin, and the soils are characterized by wetter conditions than upland tundra. In experimentally flooded areas, high wind speeds (greater than ∼4 m s−1) increased CO2 emission rates, sometimes overwhelming the photosynthetic uptake, even during daytime. This suggests that CO2 efflux from C rich soils and surface waters can be limited by surface exchange processes. The comparison of the CO2 and CH4 emission in an anaerobic soil incubation experiment showed that in this ecosystem, CO2 production is an order of magnitude higher than CH4 production. Future increases in surface water ponding, linked to surface subsidence and thermokarst erosion, and concomitant increases in soil warming, can increase net C efflux from these arctic ecosystems.

Beschreibung: This study presents results from 46 sensitivity experiments carried out with three structurally simple (2, 3, and 6 biogeochemical state variables, respectively) models of production, export and remineralization of organic phosphorus, coupled to a global ocean circulation model and integrated for 3000 years each. The models' skill is assessed via different misfit functions with respect to the observed global distributions of phosphate and oxygen. Across the different models, the global root-mean square misfit with respect to observed phosphate and oxygen distributions is found to be particularly sensitive to changes in the remineralization length scale, and also to changes in simulated primary production. For this metric, changes in the production and decay of dissolved organic phosphorus as well as in zooplankton parameters are of lesser importance. For a misfit function accounting for the misfit of upper-ocean tracers, however, production parameters and organic phosphorus dynamics play a larger role. Regional misfit patterns are investigated as indicators of potential model deficiencies, such as missing iron limitation, or deficiencies in the sinking and remineralization length scales. In particular, the gradient between phosphate concentrations in the northern North Pacific and the northern North Atlantic is controlled predominantly by the biogeochemical model parameters related to particle flux. For the combined 46 sensitivity experiments performed here, the global misfit to observed oxygen and phosphate distributions shows no clear relation to either simulated global primary or export production for either misfit metric employed. However, a relatively tight relationship that is very similar for the different model of different structural complexity is found between the model-data misfit in oxygen and phosphate distributions to simulated meso- and bathypelagic particle flux. Best agreement with the observed tracer distributions is obtained for simulated particle fluxes that agree most closely with sediment trap data for a nominal depth of about 1000 m, or deeper.

Beschreibung: The stable isotopic compositions of bulk, clay-bound, organic, and compound-specific nitrogen were determined for mid to late Holocene Black Sea sediments from a set of box and gravity cores. The data demonstrate that cyanobacterial N2 fixation provided ∼55% of phytoplankton-derived N preserved in the top 1–2 cm of the sediments. Prior to widespread agricultural and industrial development in the catchment, N2 fixation was more prominent, providing 70–80% of phytoplankton N. Organic and clay-bound nitrogen fractions record different down-core δ15N trends that reflect phytoplankton and detrital sources, respectively, and in samples with low organic matter content, the clay-bound fraction comprises up to 38% of bulk nitrogen. Compared with bulk samples, pyropheophytin a (Pphe a), which is a chlorophyll a (Chl a) degradation product, provides a more accurate record of changing phytoplankton δ15N values during the Holocene. An examination of the δ15NPphe a values in light of published and new estimates of the isotopic difference between biomass and Chl a suggests that most of the preserved Pphe a was derived from eukaryotic algae, not cyanobacteria. We infer from these data that cyanobacterial biomass is rapidly recycled in the photic zone, with 15N-depleted NH4+ released during heterotrophy and assimilated by other phytoplankton. A conceptual model for N2 fixation in the Black Sea is presented, drawing upon water column nutrient and hydrographic data as well as regional climate variability to explain the proposed temporal variability in N2 fixation.

Beschreibung: We used a process-based ecosystem model to examine methane (CH4) fluxes in the marshland across China as a result of multifactor global changes during 1949–2008. Our simulated results show a significant declining rate of 18.7 Gg Ca−1 (1Gg = 109 g) (with a 95% confidence boundary of 17.6 ∼ 19.8 Gg C a−1) at national scale, but substantially varying from the maximum annual CH4 emission of 2.4 Tg C a−1 (1Tg = 1012 g) (with a 95% confident boundary of 1.8 ∼ 3.4 Tg C a−1) in 1952 to the minimum annual CH4 emission of 1.3 Tg C a−1 (with a 95% confident boundary of 1.0 ∼ 1.9 Tg C a−1) in 2003. The marshland loss made the largest contribution to the CH4 emission reduction with an cumulative effect of 37.9 Tg C (with a 95% confident boundary of 28.0 ∼ 54.1 Tg C) for the past 60 years. Ozone pollution reduced CH4 emission, while elevated atmospheric CO2, nitrogen deposition, climate change, and multiple-factor interaction, cumulatively stimulated CH4 emission. Climate variability predominately controlled the inter-annual variations in CH4 emissions. A substantial spatial variation in CH4 emission was observed across China's marshland. At regional scale, the Northeast, followed by Northwest and Southeast, made the greatest contribution, while North and Southwest made minor contributions to the national CH4 emission. This study suggests that it is necessary to consider multiple global change factors when estimating regional CH4 fluxes in natural wetlands.

Beschreibung: Winter soil CO2 emission is a very important component of the annual carbon budgets, however, almost no information on winter CO2 emission is available from the cropland soil in northeast China. In this study, soil CO2 flux was measured for a 2-year period from an ongoing tillage trial on Black soil in northeast China to quantify seasonal patterns in soil CO2 flux rate and wintertime contribution to annual soil respiration. Average soil CO2 flux rates in the winter (November to March) were between 0.64 to 1.22 g CO2 m−2 d−1, in the non-growing season (October and April) were 2.09–3.56 g CO2 m−2 d−1, whereas in the growing season (May to September) they were between 10.9 to 12.7 g CO2 m−2 d−1, with no significant differences among tillage treatments. Total winter, non-growing and growing season soil CO2 emissions were 0.28–0.45 Mg C ha−1, 0.36–0.53 Mg C ha−1, and 4.52–5.55 Mg C ha−1, respectively, among tillage treatments. The contributions of winter soil respiration to annual soil CO2 emission ranged from 5.1 to 7.1%, and the non-growing season emission ranged from 11.4 to 15.2% among tillage treatments. Our results indicate that in northeast China, cropland Black soil continuously emits CO2 throughout the non-growing season, and the wintertime soil respiration plays a significant role in annual soil carbon budgets. Hence winter soil CO2 emission must be taken into consideration when the role of the soil ecosystem is assessed as either a sink or source of CO2 to the atmosphere.

Beschreibung: In connection with the Palmer LTER program, mixed layer water samples were collected during the cruise of the L.M. Gould in Jan., 2008 at 49 stations on a 20 × 100 km grid in the West Antarctica Peninsula (WAP) region of the Southern Ocean. In this study, [O2]/[Ar] ratios and the triple isotope composition of dissolved O2 were measured, and were used to estimate net community O2 production (NCP) and gross primary O2 production (GPP), respectively. These estimates are further converted to carbon export production, primary production and the f-ratio. Our measurements give NCP ranging from −3 to 76 mmol O2 m−2 day−1 (−25 to 650 mg C m−2 day−1), and GPP from 40 to 220 mmol O2 m−2 day−1 (180 to 1010 mg C m−2 day−1). The O2 NCP/GPP ratios range from −0.04 to 0.43, corresponding to f-ratios of −0.08 to 0.83. NCP and the NCP/GPP ratio are highest in the northern coastal areas, and decrease to lower values toward the southern coastal area and the open ocean. The inshore-offshore gradient appears to be regulated primarily by iron availability, as supported by the positive correlation between NCP and Fv/Fm ratios (r2 = 0.22, p 

Beschreibung: Global biogeochemical cycles have been deeply modified by human activities in recent decades. But detailed studies analyzing the influence of current economic and social organizations on global biogeochemical cycles within a system perspective are still required. Country level offers a relevant scale for assessing nutrient management and identifying key driving forces and possible leaks in the nutrient cycle. Conceptual modeling helps to quantify nutrient flows within the country and we developed such an approach for France. France is a typical Western European country with intensive agriculture, trade and an affluent diet, all of which may increase internal and external P flows. Phosphorus (P) was taken as a case study because phosphate rock is a non-renewable resource which future availability is becoming increasingly bleak. A conceptual model of major P flows at the country scale was designed. France was divided into agriculture, industry, domestic, import and export sectors, and each of these sectors was further divided into compartments. A total of 25 internal and eight external P flows were identified and quantified on a yearly basis for a period of 16 years (from 1990 to 2006) in order to understand long-term P flows. All the P flows were quantified using the substance flow analysis principle. The results showed that the industrial sector remained the largest contributor to P flows in France, followed by the agriculture and domestic sectors. Soil P balance was positive. However, a positive P balance of 18 kg P ha−1 in 1990 was reduced to 4 kg P ha−1 in 2006, mainly due to the reduced application of inorganic P fertilizer. The overall country scale P balance was positive, whereas half of this additional P was lost to the environment mainly through the landfilling of municipal and industrial waste, disposal of treated wastewater from which P was partially removed, and P losses from agricultural soils though erosion and leaching. Consequences for global P resources and soil and water compartments are discussed. Some opportunities to more effectively close the P cycle in France by both improving the intensity of P recycling and decreasing losses are quantified.

Beschreibung: Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are major sites of fixed nitrogen removal from the open ocean. However, commonly used gridded data sets such as the World Ocean Atlas (WOA) tend to overestimate the concentration of O2 compared to measurements in grids where O2 falls in the suboxic range (O2 〈 2–10 mmol m−3), thereby underestimating the extent of O2 depletion in OMZs. We evaluate the distribution of the OMZs by (1) mapping high-quality oxygen measurements from the WOCE program, and (2) by applying an empirical correction to the gridded WOA based on in situ observations. The resulting suboxic volumes are a factor 3 larger than in the uncorrected gridded WOA. We combine the new oxygen data sets with estimates of global export and simple models of remineralization to estimate global denitrification and N2O production. We obtain a removal of fixed nitrogen of 70 ± 50 Tg year−1 in the open ocean and 198 ± 64 Tg year−1 in the sediments, and a global N2O production of 6.2 ± 3.2 Tg year−1. Our results (1) reconcile water column denitrification rates based on global oxygen distributions with previous estimates based on nitrogen isotopes, (2) revise existing estimates of sediment denitrification down by 1/3d through the use of spatially explicit fluxes, and (3) provide independent evidence supporting the idea of a historically balanced oceanic nitrogen cycle. These estimates are most sensitive to uncertainties in the global export production, the oxygen threshold for suboxic processes, and the efficiency of particle respiration under suboxic conditions. Ocean deoxygenation, an expected response to anthropogenic climate change, could increase denitrification by 14 Tg year−1 of nitrogen per 1 mmol m−3 of oxygen reduction if uniformly distributed, while leaving N2O production relatively unchanged.

Beschreibung: For marine biogeochemical models used in simulations of climate change scenarios, the ability to account for adaptability of marine ecosystems to environmental change becomes a concern. The potential for adaptation is expected to be larger for a diverse ecosystem compared to a monoculture of a single type of (model) algae, such as typically included in biogeochemical models. Recent attempts to simulate phytoplankton diversity in global marine ecosystem models display remarkable qualitative agreement with observed patterns of species distributions. However, modeled species diversity tends to be systematically lower than observed and, in many regions, is smaller than the number of potentially limiting nutrients. According to resource competition theory, the maximum number of coexisting species at equilibrium equals the number of limiting resources. By simulating phytoplankton communities in a chemostat model and in a global circulation model, we show here that a systematic underestimate of phytoplankton diversity may result from the standard modeling assumption of identical stoichiometry for the different phytoplankton types. Implementing stoichiometric variation among the different marine algae types in the models allows species to generate different resource supply niches via their own ecological impact. This is shown to increase the level of phytoplankton coexistence both in a chemostat model and in a global self-assembling ecosystem model.

Beschreibung: The evaluation of impacts of land use change is in general limited by the knowledge of past land use conditions. Most publications on the field present only a vague description of the earlier patterns of land use, which is usually insufficient for more comprehensive studies. Here we present the first spatially explicit reconstruction of historical land use patterns in Brazil, including both croplands and pasturelands, for the period between 1940 and 1995. This reconstruction was obtained by merging satellite imagery with census data, and provides a 5′ × 5′ yearly data set of land use for three different categories (cropland, natural pastureland and planted pastureland) for Brazil. The results show that important land use changes occurred in Brazil. Natural pasture dominated in the 1950s and 1960s, but since the beginning of 1970s it has been gradually replaced by planted pasture, especially in southeast and center west of Brazil. The croplands began its expansion in the 1960s reaching extensive areas in almost all states in 1980. Carbon emissions from historical land use changes were calculated by superimposing a composite biomass map on grids of a weighted average of the fractions of the vegetation types and the replacement land uses. Net emissions from land use changes between 1940 and 1995 totaled 17.2 ± 9.0 Pg-C (90% confidence range), averaging 0.31 ± 0.16 Pg-C yr−1, but reaching up to 0.47 ± 0.25 Pg-C yr−1 during the 1960s and through 1986–1995. Despite international concerns about Amazon deforestation emissions, 72% of Brazil's carbon emissions during the period actually came from deforestation in the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes. Brazil's carbon emissions from land use change are about 11 times larger than its emissions from fossil fuel burning, although only about 18.1% of the native biomass has been lost due to agricultural expansion, which is similar to the global mean (17.7%).

Beschreibung: The eastern subarctic North Pacific, an area of high nutrients and low chlorophyll, has been studied with respect to the potential for iron to control primary production. The geochemistry of zinc, a critical micronutrient for diatoms, is less well characterized. Total zinc concentrations and zinc speciation were measured in near-surface waters on transects across the subarctic North Pacific and across the Bering Sea. Total dissolved zinc concentrations in the near-surface ranged from 0.10 nmol L−1 to 1.15 nmol L−1 with lowest concentrations in the eastern portions of both the North Pacific and Bering Sea. Dissolved zinc speciation was dominated by complexation to strong organic ligands whose concentration ranged from 1.1 to 3.6 nmol L−1 with conditional stability constants (K′ZnL/Zn′) ranging from 109.3 to 1011.0. The importance of zinc to primary producers was evaluated by comparison to phytoplankton pigment concentrations and by performing a shipboard incubation. Zinc concentrations were positively correlated with two pigments that are characteristic of diatoms. At one station in the North Pacific, the addition of 0.75 nmol L−1 zinc resulted in a doubling of chlorophyll after 4 days.

Beschreibung: The Japan Meteorological Agency has acquired dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration data each year since 1967 along the 137°E repeat section in the western North Pacific. In this data set we found significant regional temporal trends of decreasing or increasing DO concentrations on various isopycnal surfaces. DO decreases were particularly significant after the mid-1980s in the subtropical gyre; mean rates of DO change at 20–25°N for 1985–2010 were −0.28 ± 0.08 μmol kg−1 yr−1 on 25.5 σθ in North Pacific Subtropical Mode Water (NPSTMW), −0.36 ± 0.08 μmol kg−1 yr−1 on 26.8 σθ in North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW), and −0.23 ± 0.04 μmol kg−1 yr−1 on 27.3 σθ in the O2 minimum Layer (OML). The cause of DO decrease differed among isopycnal surfaces. On density surfaces shallower than 26.0 σθ (less than about 400 m), the deepening of isopycnal surfaces and decline of oxygen solubility due to ocean warming have had the greatest influence. In particular, between 25.2 σθ and 25.8 σθ near the NPSTMW their combined contributions accounted for 〉50% of the DO decrease. In the NPIW core at roughly 26.8 σθ (∼700 m), the decline in DO was attributable to the DO decrease in the formation region. In the OML between 27.0 σθ and 27.3 σθ (∼1000 m), the DO decrease likely resulted from an increase in westward transport of low O2 water due to strengthening of the subtropical gyre. The result of this study shows the importance of the long-term and high-frequency along the 137°E repeat section.

Beschreibung: Total prokaryotic abundance, prokaryotic heterotrophic production and enzymatic activities were investigated in epi-, meso- and bathypelagic waters along a longitudinal transect covering the entire Mediterranean Sea. The prokaryotic production and enzymatic activities in deep waters were among the highest reported worldwide at similar depths, indicating that the peculiar physico-chemical characteristics of the Mediterranean Sea, characterized by warm temperatures (typically 13°C also at abyssal depths), support high rates of organic carbon degradation and incorporation by prokaryotic assemblages. The higher trophic conditions in the epipelagic waters of the Western basin resulted in significantly higher prokaryotic production and enzymatic activities rates than in the Central-Eastern basin. While all of the variables decreased significantly from epi- to meso- and bathypelagic waters, cell-specific hydrolytic activity and cell-specific carbon production significantly increased. In addition, the deep-water layers were characterized by low half-saturation constants (Km) of all enzymatic activities. These findings suggest that prokaryotic assemblages inhabiting the dark portion of the Mediterranean Sea are able to channel degraded carbon into biomass in a very efficient way, and that prokaryotic assemblages of the deep Mediterranean waters work as a “bioreactor” of organic matter cycling. Since prokaryotic production and enzymatic activities in deep water masses were inversely related with oxygen concentration, we hypothesize a tight link between prokaryotic metabolism and oxygen consumption. As climate change is increasing deep-water temperatures, the predicted positive response of prokaryotic metabolism to temperature increases may accelerate oxygen depletion of deep Mediterranean waters, with cascade consequences on carbon cycling and biogeochemical processes on the entire deep basin.

Beschreibung: Isoprene is important for its atmospheric impacts and the ecophysiological benefits it affords to emitting organisms; however, isoprene emissions from marine systems remain vastly understudied compared to terrestrial systems. This study investigates for the first time drivers of isoprene production in a temperate estuary, and the role this production may play in enabling organisms to tolerate the inherently wide range of environmental conditions. Intertidal sediment cores as well as high and low tide water samples were collected from four sites along the Colne Estuary, UK, every six weeks over a year. Isoprene concentrations in the water were significantly higher at low than high tide, and decreased toward the mouth of the estuary; sediment production showed no spatial variability. Diel isoprene concentration increased with light availability and decreased with tidal height; nighttime production was 79% lower than daytime production. Seasonal isoprene production and water concentrations were highest for the warmest months, with production strongly correlated with light (r2 = 0.800) and temperature (r2 = 0.752). Intertidal microphytobenthic communities were found to be the primary source of isoprene, with tidal action acting as a concentrating factor for isoprene entering the water column. Using these data we estimated an annual production rate for this estuary of 681 μmol m−2 y−1. This value falls at the upper end of other marine estimates and highlights the potentially significant role of estuaries as isoprene sources. The control of estuarine isoprene production by environmental processes identified here further suggests that such emissions may be altered by future environmental change.

Beschreibung: The sensitivity of oceanic δ13C fields to overturning and gas exchange is investigated in a suite of ocean general circulation models. The deep and oceanic mean δ13C in the models was sensitive to the balance between deep waters forming in the North Atlantic and the Southern Ocean. Increasing the Southern Ocean deep water formation rate to improve deep sea 14C and AOU fields was detrimental to model-data δ13C fidelity. A concurrent increase in North Atlantic Deep water would be needed to match the observed 14C and δ13C, constraining both the rate and schematics of model deep water formation, respectively, and improving sensitivity to future perturbations. Inter-basin trends in δ13C were sensitive to the rate of overturning in the models, with ‘high mixing’ model configurations matching the observations best. Models' anthropogenic δ13C changes, used as a diagnostic of model CO2 uptake, were in agreement with the observations, except at high southern latitudes (

Beschreibung: We present here the first comprehensive assessment of the carbon (C) footprint associated with the creation of a boreal hydroelectric reservoir (Eastmain-1 in northern Québec, Canada). This is the result of a large-scale, interdisciplinary study that spanned over a 7-years period (2003–2009), where we quantified the major C gas (CO2 and CH4) sources and sinks of the terrestrial and aquatic components of the pre-flood landscape, and also for the reservoir following the impoundment in 2006. The pre-flood landscape was roughly neutral in terms of C, and the balance between pre- and post-flood C sources/sinks indicates that the reservoir was initially (first year post-flood in 2006) a large net source of CO2 (2270 mg C m−2 d−1) but a much smaller source of CH4 (0.2 mg C m−2 d−1). While net CO2 emissions declined steeply in subsequent years (down to 835 mg C m−2 d−1 in 2009), net CH4 emissions remained constant or increased slightly relative to pre-flood emissions. Our results also suggest that the reservoir will continue to emit carbon gas over the long-term at rates exceeding the carbon footprint of the pre-flood landscape, although the sources of C supporting these emissions have yet to be determined. Extrapolation of these empirical trends over the projected life span (100 years) of the reservoir yields integrated long-term net C emissions per energy generation well below the range of the natural-gas combined-cycle, which is considered the current industry standard.

Beschreibung: Black carbon (BC) has long been considered a chemically resistant component of soil organic carbon (SOC). However, there is substantial evidence that the chemistry of most C compounds is less important for long-term storage than is physical protection (e.g., mineral sorption). We explored BC retention in grasslands that lie along a climate gradient that produces strong differences in short range order (SRO) minerals known to drive landscape-scale retention of SOC. We measured soil BC content using 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and used radiocarbon dating on a subset of samples to relate BC content to long-term soil C storage. Black C concentrations in soil ranged from 0.2 to 2.9%, representing 10–30% of SOC and spanning levels found in temperate grasslands around the world. Black C concentrations were significantly correlated with SRO minerals, but the strongest single predictor of BC content was simply SOC. The ratio of BC/OC was fairly insensitive to SRO minerals, suggesting that BC responds similarly to reactive minerals as does OC. Direct links between SOC and BC retention warrant further study. We found no evidence that BC is preferentially retained relative to OC, with soil radiocarbon ages apparently driven primarily by inputs of new OC. These results indicate that physical protection may play a strong role in BC retention, and that BC cycling in soils may be more similar to OC cycling than is generally thought.

Beschreibung: We use a database of more than 4.4 million observations of ocean pCO2 to investigate oceanic pCO2 growth rates. We use pCO2 measurements, with corresponding sea surface temperature and salinity measurements, to reconstruct alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon to understand what is driving these growth rates in different ocean regions. If the oceanic pCO2 growth rate is faster (slower) than the atmospheric CO2 growth rate, the region can be interpreted as having a decreasing (increasing) atmospheric CO2 uptake. Only the Western subpolar and subtropical North Pacific, and the Southern Ocean are found to have sufficient spatial and temporal observations to calculate the growth rates of oceanic pCO2 in different seasons. Based on these regions, we find the strength of the ocean carbon sink has declined over the last two decades due to a combination of regional drivers (physical and biological). In the subpolar North Pacific reduced atmospheric CO2 uptake in the summer is associated with changes in the biological production, while in the subtropical North Pacific enhanced uptake in winter is associated with enhanced biological production. In the Indian and Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean a reduced winter atmospheric CO2 uptake is associated with a positive SAM response. Conversely in the more stratified Atlantic Ocean sector enhanced summer uptake is associated with increased biological production and reduced vertical supply. We are not able to separate climate variability and change as the calculated growth rates are at the limit of detection and are associated with large uncertainties. Ongoing sustained observations of global oceanic pCO2 and its drivers, including dissolved inorganic carbon and alkalinity, are key to detecting and understanding how the ocean carbon sink will evolve in future and what processes are driving this change.

Beschreibung: Dissolved cobalt (dCo), iron (dFe) and aluminum (dAl) were determined in water column samples along a meridional transect (∼31°N to 24°N) south of Bermuda in June 2008. A general north-to-south increase in surface concentrations of dFe (0.3–1.6 nM) and dAl (14–42 nM) was observed, suggesting that aerosol deposition is a significant source of dFe and dAl, whereas no clear trend was observed for near-surface dCo concentrations. Shipboard aerosol samples indicate fractional solubility values of 8–100% for aerosol Co, which are significantly higher than corresponding estimates of the solubility of aerosol Fe (0.44–45%). Hydrographic observations and analysis of time series rain samples from Bermuda indicate that wet deposition accounts for most (〉80%) of the total aeolian flux of Co, and hence a significant proportion of the atmospheric input of dCo to our study region. Our aerosol data imply that the atmospheric input of dCo to the Sargasso Sea is modest, although this flux may be more significant in late summer. The water column dCo profiles reveal a vertical distribution that predominantly reflects ‘nutrient-type’ behavior, versus scavenged-type behavior for dAl, and a hybrid of nutrient- and scavenged-type behavior for dFe. Mesoscale eddies also appear to impact on the vertical distribution of dCo. The effects of biological removal of dCo from the upper water column were apparent as pronounced sub-surface minima (21 ± 4 pM dCo), coincident with maxima in Prochlorococcus abundance. These observations imply that Prochlorococcus plays a major role in removing dCo from the euphotic zone, and that the availability of dCo may regulate Prochlorococcus growth in the Sargasso Sea.

Beschreibung: Sunlit and shaded leaf separation proposed by Norman (1982) is an effective way to upscale from leaf to canopy in modeling vegetation photosynthesis. The Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS) makes use of this methodology, and has been shown to be reliable in modeling the gross primary productivity (GPP) derived from CO2 flux and tree ring measurements. In this study, we use BEPS to investigate the effect of canopy architecture on the global distribution of GPP. For this purpose, we use not only leaf area index (LAI) but also the first ever global map of the foliage clumping index derived from the multiangle satellite sensor POLDER at 6 km resolution. The clumping index, which characterizes the degree of the deviation of 3-dimensional leaf spatial distributions from the random case, is used to separate sunlit and shaded LAI values for a given LAI. Our model results show that global GPP in 2003 was 132 ± 22 Pg C. Relative to this baseline case, our results also show: (1) global GPP is overestimated by 12% when accurate LAI is available but clumping is ignored, and (2) global GPP is underestimated by 9% when the effective LAI is available and clumping is ignored. The clumping effects in both cases are statistically significant (p 〈 0.001). The effective LAI is often derived from remote sensing by inverting the measured canopy gap fraction to LAI without considering the clumping. Global GPP would therefore be generally underestimated when remotely sensed LAI (actually effective LAI by our definition) is used. This is due to the underestimation of the shaded LAI and therefore the contribution of shaded leaves to GPP. We found that shaded leaves contribute 50%, 38%, 37%, 39%, 26%, 29% and 21% to the total GPP for broadleaf evergreen forest, broadleaf deciduous forest, evergreen conifer forest, deciduous conifer forest, shrub, C4 vegetation, and other vegetation, respectively. The global average of this ratio is 35%.

Beschreibung: Under arid to semihumid climatic conditions, dissolution of primary carbonate and recrystallization with carbon (C) from soil CO2 leads to accumulation of significant amounts of pedogenic (secondary) carbonate. Most soils of arid and semiarid regions contain a carbonate accumulation horizon, the depth of which is related to climatic conditions and properties of parent material. It remains unclear whether this carbonate migrates from the upper horizons before or after recrystallization with soil CO2. The aim of this study was to determine recrystallization rates during initial pedogenesis and to estimate the accumulation depth of secondary carbonate based on C isotopic exchange during secondary carbonate formation in an experiment with alternating moisture conditions. Maize grown on 1 m high loess-filled columns was pulse labeled in 14CO2 atmosphere every 3 weeks. After 6 months, portions of secondary (recrystallized) CaCO3 were determined in 5 cm segments, based on 14C respired in the rhizosphere and subsequently incorporated into newly formed secondary carbonate. More than 80% of recrystallized carbonate (Ca14CO3) was leached from the uppermost 15 cm of the loess column, and more than 70% of total secondary carbonate were accumulated in a depth between 15 and 50 cm. Based on the recrystallization rate calculated for the uppermost 15 cm of the loess column (1.77 ± 0.26 ⋅ 10−5 day−1), between 300 and more than 1,700 years are necessary for complete decalcification of the upper 15 cm. Our modeled data are consistent with formation of calcic horizons under relatively humid conditions.

Beschreibung: The seasonal cycle of atmospheric potential oxygen (APO ∼ O2 + 1.1 CO2) reflects three seasonally varying ocean processes: 1) thermal in- and outgassing, 2) mixed layer net community production (NCP) and 3) deep water ventilation. Previous studies have isolated the net biological seasonal signal (i.e., the sum of NCP and ventilation), after using air-sea heat flux data to estimate the thermal signal. In this study, we resolve all three components of the APO seasonal cycle using a methodology in which the ventilation signal is estimated based on atmospheric N2O data, the thermal signal is estimated based on heat flux or atmospheric Ar/N2 data, and the production signal is inferred as a residual. The isolation of the NCP signal in APO allows for direct comparison to estimates of NCP based on satellite ocean color data, after translating the latter into an atmospheric signal using an atmospheric transport model. When applied to ocean color data using algorithms specially adapted to the Southern Ocean and APO data at three southern monitoring sites, these two independent methods converge on a similar phase and amplitude of the seasonal NCP signal in APO and yield an estimate of annual mean NCP south of 50°S of 0.8–1.2 Pg C/yr, with corresponding annual mean NPP of ∼3 Pg C/yr and a mean growing season f ratio of ∼0.33. These results are supported by ocean biogeochemistry model simulations, in which air-sea O2 and N2O fluxes are resolved into component thermal, ventilation and (for O2) NCP contributions.

Beschreibung: This paper combines an atmospheric transport model and a terrestrial ecosystem model to estimate gross primary productivity (GPP) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of the land biosphere. Using atmospheric CO2 observations in a Carbon Cycle Data Assimilation System (CCDAS) we estimate a terrestrial global GPP of 146 ± 19 GtC/yr. However, the current observing network cannot distinguish this best estimate from a different assimilation experiment yielding a terrestrial global GPP of 117 GtC/yr. Spatial estimates of GPP agree with data-driven estimates in the extratropics but are overestimated in the poorly observed tropics. The uncertainty analysis of previous studies was extended by using two atmospheric transport models and different CO2 observing networks. We find that estimates of GPP and NEP are less sensitive to these choices than the form of the prior probability for model parameters. NEP is also found to be significantly sensitive to the transport model and this sensitivity is not greatly reduced compared to direct atmospheric transport inversions, which optimize NEP directly.

Beschreibung: Particulate organic carbon (POC) generated by primary production and exported to depth, is an important pathway for carbon transfer to the abyss, where it is stored over climatically significant timescales. These processes constitute the biological carbon pump. A spectrum of particulate sinking velocities exists throughout the water column, however numerical models often simplify this spectrum into suspended, fast and slow sinking particles. Observational studies suggest the spectrum of sinking speeds in the ocean is strongly bimodal with 〉85% POC flux contained within two pools with sinking speeds of 350 m day−1. We deployed a Marine Snow Catcher (MSC) to estimate the magnitudes of the suspended, fast and slow sinking pools and their fluxes at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain site (48°N, 16.5°W) in summer 2009. The POC concentrations and fluxes determined were 0.2 μg C L−1 and 54 mg C m−2 day−1 for fast sinking particles, 5 μg C L−1 and 92 mg C m−2 day−1 for slow sinking particles and 97 μg C L−1 for suspended particles. Our flux estimates were comparable with radiochemical tracer methods and neutrally buoyant sediment traps. Our observations imply: (1) biomineralising protists, on occasion, act as nucleation points for aggregate formation and accelerate particle sinking; (2) fast sinking particles alone were sufficient to explain the abyssal POC flux; and (3) there is no evidence for ballasting of the slow sinking flux and the slow sinking particles were probably entirely remineralised in the twilight zone.

Beschreibung: We present the results of a 4-year collaborative sampling effort that measured δ18O, δ2H values and 3H activities in the six largest Arctic rivers (the Ob, Yenisey, Lena, Kolyma, Yukon and Mackenzie). Using consistent sampling and data processing protocols, these isotopic measurements provide the best available δ2H and 3H estimates for freshwater fluxes from the pan-Arctic watershed to the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas, which complements previous efforts with δ18O and other tracers. Flow-weighted annual δ2H values vary from −113.3‰ to −171.4‰ among rivers. Annual 3H fluxes vary from 0.68 g to 4.12 g among basins. The integration of conventional hydrological and landscape observations with stable water isotope signals, and estimation of areal yield of 3H provide useful insights for understanding water sources, mixing and evaporation losses in these river basins. For example, an inverse correlation between the slope of the δ18O-δ2H relation and wetland extent indicates that wetlands play comparatively important roles affecting evaporation losses in the Yukon and Mackenzie basins. Tritium areal yields (ranging from 0.760 to 1.695 10−6 g/km2 per year) are found to be positively correlated with permafrost coverage within the studied drainage basins. Isotope-discharge relationships demonstrate both linear and nonlinear response patterns, which highlights the complexity of hydrological processes in large Arctic river basins. These isotope observations and their relationship to discharge and landscape features indicate that basin-specific characteristics significantly influence hydrological processes in the pan-Arctic watershed.

Beschreibung: The ocean's biological carbon pump is a key component of the global carbon cycle. Only a small fraction of the carbon fixed by primary production is exported to the deep ocean, yet this flux sets to first order the efficiency with which carbon is sequestered out of further contact with the atmosphere on long time scales. Here we examine global patterns in particle export efficiency (PEeff), the proportion of primary production that is exported from the surface ocean, and transfer efficiency (Teff), the fraction of exported organic matter that reaches the deep ocean. Previous studies have found a positive correlation between Teff and deep ocean calcite fluxes recovered from sediment traps, implying that ballasting by calcium carbonate may play an important role in regulating Teff. An alternative explanation is that this correlation is not causative, as regions where the dominant biomineral phase is calcite tend to be subtropical systems, which are hypothesized to produce sinking aggregates highly resistant to degradation. We attempt to distinguish between these alternative hypotheses on the control of Teff by examining the relationship between Teff and biomineral phases exported from the upper ocean, rather than those collected in deep traps. Global scale estimates derived from satellite data show, in keeping with earlier studies, that PEeff is high at high latitudes and low at low latitudes, but that Teff is low at high latitudes and high at low latitudes. However, in contrast to the relationship observed for deep biomineral fluxes in previous studies, we find that Teff is strongly negatively correlated with opal export flux from the upper ocean, but uncorrelated with calcium carbonate export flux. We hypothesize that the underlying factor governing the spatial patterns observed in Teff is ecosystem function, specifically the degree of recycling occurring in the upper ocean, rather than the availability of calcium carbonate for ballasting.

Beschreibung: The relationship between the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), volcanic aerosol, and the carbon cycle has been characterized through analyses of atmospheric CO2, biogeochemical modeling and recently through inverse estimation. However, the studies to date contain weaknesses that make quantitative assessment of the relationship unreliable. Here we present a systematic quantification of the relationship between ENSO, volcanic aerosols and regional net carbon exchange using results from the TransCom Atmospheric CO2 Inversion Intercomparison and a simple 2-step regression method. A modified ENSO index (ENSOτ) is created by estimating the component of ENSO variability that is linearly uncorrelated to aerosol optical depth, and the relationships are estimated by performing correlation analysis with the TransCom 3 tropical terrestrial carbon flux estimates. Flux anomalies from the tropical land regions (Tropical America, Northern Africa, Tropical Asia) show statistically significant correlations with anomalies of ENSOτ, with carbon exchange lagging the ENSOτ by two to six months. Further analysis by season and warm phase/cold phase shows the ENSOτ warm phase explaining 〉70% of the variability in tropical net carbon exchange. Tropical Asia shows the largest response with positive carbon flux anomalies following two to three months behind the peak of the ENSOτ warm phase. Total tropical land carbon flux anomalies of +0.59 GtC/year result from a typical (one standard deviation) warm ENSOτ event and are consistent with estimates of carbon loss via tropical fire.

Beschreibung: We report a new foraminifera-bound δ15N (FB-δ15N) record from the South China Sea (SCS) extending back to 42 ka. This record shows a ∼1.2‰ glacial-to-interglacial δ15N decrease, with a deglacial δ15N maximum similar to that observed in many bulk sedimentary δ15N records and in a Caribbean FB-δ15N record. The glacial-to-interglacial δ15N decrease is smaller than in the Caribbean record, indicating that at least half of the Caribbean δ15N decrease into the Holocene was regional, not global, supporting the interpretation of a Holocene increase in Atlantic nitrogen fixation. At the same time, the glacial-to-interglacial δ15N decrease observed in the SCS may also be explained as a regional signal of increasing nitrogen fixation into the Holocene. Other aspects of the SCS record suggest an effect of physical circulation on FB-δ15N. FB-δ15N starts to increase toward its deglacial maximum before the last ice age ends, and it continues to decrease through the later Holocene, in contrast to the more pure glacial/deglacial/interglacial steps in the Caribbean record. These changes have parallels in other Pacific δ15N records, precessionally driven East Asian monsoon records, and the slow Holocene warming of SCS surface waters. In addition, the SCS record exhibits two one-point high-δ15N spikes in multiple foraminiferal species that coincide with apparent hydrographic events. Thinning or weakening of the thermocline, in the late glacial and early Holocene as well as during the noted events, may have yielded a higher δ15N for thermocline nitrate and thus a higher FB-δ15N.

Beschreibung: Estuaries are ‘hot spots’ in the global carbon cycle, yet data on carbon dynamics, in particular air-sea CO2 fluxes, from autotrophic systems are rare. Estuarine carbon budgets were constructed for three geomorphically distinct warm temperate Australian estuaries over an annual cycle. All three estuaries were net autotrophic, with annual net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) ranging from 8 ± 13.4 molC m−2 yr−1 to 10 ± 14 molC m−2 yr−1. There was a net flux of CO2 from the atmosphere to the estuaries of between 0.4 ± 0.6 molC m−2 yr−1 and 2 ± 0.9 molC m−2 yr−1. Loading of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to the estuaries varied markedly within and between the estuaries, and was directly related to freshwater inflow. While NEM was similar in all three estuaries, the ratio of benthic versus pelagic contributions to NEM differed, with NEM dominated by pelagic production in the river dominated system, benthic production dominating in the intermediate estuary, and equal contributions of benthic and pelagic production in the marine dominated lagoon. All three estuaries exported more organic carbon than was imported, fueled by additional organic carbon supplied by NEM. The estuaries essentially acted as bioreactors, transforming DIC to organic carbon. Burial of organic carbon ranged from 1.2 ± 0.3 molC m−2 yr−1 to 4.4 ± 1.2 molC m−2 yr−1 and represented up to half of NEM. The annual net uptake of atmospheric CO2 in these systems, along with previous estimates of the global estuarine CO2 flux being based predominantly on heterotrophic, large river dominated estuarine systems, indicates that the global estimate of the estuarine air-water CO2 flux may be over-estimated due to the lack of studies from autotrophic marine dominated estuaries.

Beschreibung: Tree ring analysis allows reconstructing historical growth rates over long periods. Several studies have reported an increasing trend in ring widths, often attributed to growth stimulation by increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration. However, these trends may also have been caused by sampling biases. Here we describe two biases and evaluate their magnitude. (1) The slow-grower survivorship bias is caused by differences in tree longevity of fast- and slow-growing trees within a population. If fast-growing trees live shorter, they are underrepresented in the ancient portion of the tree ring data set. As a result, reconstructed growth rates in the distant past are biased toward slower growth. (2) The big-tree selection bias is caused by sampling only the biggest trees in a population. As a result, slow-growing small trees are underrepresented in recent times as they did not reach the minimum sample diameter. We constructed stochastic models to simulate growth trajectories based on a hypothetical species with lifetime constant growth rates and on observed tree ring data from the tropical tree Cedrela odorata. Tree growth rates used as input in our models were kept constant over time. By mimicking a standard tree ring sampling approach and selecting only big living trees, we show that both biases lead to apparent increases in historical growth rates. Increases for the slow-grower survivorship bias were relatively small and depended strongly on assumptions about tree mortality. The big-tree selection bias resulted in strong historical increases, with a doubling in growth rates over recent decades. A literature review suggests that historical growth increases reported in many tree ring studies may have been partially due to the big-tree sampling bias. We call for great caution in the interpretation of historical growth trends from tree ring analyses and recommend that such studies include individuals of all sizes.

Beschreibung: The existence of gas-phase ammonia (NH3) in the atmosphere and its interaction with other trace chemical species could have a substantial impact on tropospheric chemistry and global climate change. China is a large agricultural country with an enormous animal population, tremendous nitrogen fertilizer consumption and, consequently, a large emission of NH3. Despite the importance of NH3 in the global nitrogen (N) cycle, considerable inaccuracies and uncertainty exist regarding its emission in China. In this study, a comprehensive NH3 emission inventory was compiled for China on a 1 km × 1 km grid, which is suitable for input to atmospheric models. We attempted to estimate NH3 emissions accurately by taking into consideration as many native experiment results as possible and parameterizing the emission factors (EFs) by the ambient temperature, soil acidity and other factors. The total NH3 emission in China was approximately 9.8 Tg in 2006. The emission sources considered included livestock excreta (5.3 Tg), fertilizer application (3.2 Tg), agricultural soil (0.2 Tg), nitrogen-fixing plants (0.05 Tg), crop residue compost (0.3 Tg), biomass burning (0.1 Tg), urine from rural populations (0.2 Tg), chemical industry (0.2 Tg), waste disposal (0.1 Tg) and traffic (0.1 Tg). The regions with the highest emission rates are located in Central and Southwest China. Seasonally, the peak ammonia emissions occur in spring and summer.

Beschreibung: We studied 15 lakes in northern Sweden with respect to primary production and respiration in benthic and pelagic habitats. The lakes were characterized by different concentrations of colored dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of terrestrial origin, forming a gradient ranging from clear-water to brown-water lakes. Primary production decreased and respiration increased on a whole-lake scale along the gradient of increasing DOC. Thus, the lakes became more net heterotrophic, i.e., had lower net ecosystem production (NEP = gross primary production – community respiration), with increasing terrestrial DOC and this change coincided with increasing partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) in the surface waters. The single most important process for the increasing net heterotrophy along the DOC gradient was pelagic respiration of terrestrial organic carbon. In spite of high metabolic activity in the benthic habitat, benthic primary production and benthic respiration decreased simultaneously with increasing DOC, showing that the benthic habitat was in metabolic balance throughout the gradient. Therefore, the net heterotrophic states of the lakes depended on the terrestrial DOC export to lakes and the concomitant respiration of terrestrial organic carbon in the pelagic habitat.

Beschreibung: Changes in zooplankton biomass and species composition over long time scales can have significant effects on biogeochemical cycling and transfer of energy to higher trophic levels. We analyzed size-fractionated mesozooplankton biomass (〉200 μm) from biweekly to monthly day and night tows taken from 1994 to 2010 in the epipelagic zone at the Bermuda Atlantic Time series Study (BATS) site in the oligotrophic North Atlantic subtropical gyre. During this 17-year period total mesozooplankton biomass increased 61% overall, although a few short-term downturns occurred over the course of the time series. The overall increase was higher in the nighttime compared to daytime, resulting in an increase in calculated diel vertical migrator biomass. The largest seasonal increase in total biomass was in the late-winter to spring (February–April). Associated with the larger increase in late-winter/spring biomass was a shift in the timing of annual peak biomass during the latter half of the time series (from March/April to a distinct March peak for all size fractions combined, and April to March for the 2–5 mm size fractions). Zooplankton biomass was positively correlated with sea-surface temperature, water column stratification, and primary production, and negatively correlated with mean temperature between 300 and 600 m. Significant correlations exist between multidecadal climate indices–the North Atlantic Oscillation plus three different Pacific Ocean climate indices, and BATS zooplankton biomass, indicating connections between patterns in climate forcing and ecosystem response. Resultant changes in biogeochemical cycling include an increase in the magnitude of both active carbon flux by diel vertical migration and passive carbon flux of fecal pellets as components of the export flux. The most likely mechanism driving the zooplankton biomass increase is bottom-up control by smaller phytoplankton, which has also increased in biomass and production at BATS, translating up the microbial food web into mesozooplankton. Decreases in top-down control or expansion of the range of tropical species northward as a result of warming may also play a role.

Beschreibung: A recent study of the net land carbon sink estimated using the Mauna Loa, Hawaii atmospheric CO2 record, fossil fuel estimates, and a suite of ocean models suggests that the mean of the net land carbon uptake remained approximately constant for three decades and increased after 1988/1989. Due to the large variability in the net land uptake, it is not possible to determine the exact timing and nature of the increase robustly by visual inspection. Here, we develop a general methodology to objectively determine the nature and timing of the shift in the net land uptake based on the Schwarz Information Criterion. We confirm that it is likely that an abrupt shift in the mean net land carbon uptake occurred in 1988. After taking into account the variability in the net land uptake due to the influence of volcanic aerosols and the El Niño Southern Oscillation, we find that it is most likely that there is a remaining step increase at the same time (p-values of 0.01 and 0.04 for Mauna Loa and South Pole, respectively) of about 1 Pg C/yr. Thus, we conclude that neither the effect of volcanic eruptions nor the El Niño Southern Oscillation are the causes of the sudden increase of the land carbon sink. By also applying our methodology to the atmospheric growth rate of CO2, we demonstrate that it is likely that the atmospheric growth rate of CO2 exhibits a step decrease between two fitted lines in 1988–1989, which is most likely due to the shift in the net land uptake of carbon.

Beschreibung: We examine the interplay between iron supply, iron concentrations and phytoplankton communities in the Pacific Ocean. We present a theoretical framework which considers the competition for iron and nitrogen resources between phytoplankton to explain where nitrogen fixing autotrophs (diazotrophs, which require higher iron quotas, and have slower maximum growth) can co-exist with other phytoplankton. The framework also indicates that iron and fixed nitrogen concentrations can be strongly controlled by the local phytoplankton community. Together with results from a three-dimensional numerical model, we characterize three distinct biogeochemical provinces: 1) where iron supply is very low diazotrophs are excluded, and iron-limited nondiazotrophic phytoplankton control the iron concentrations; 2) a transition region where nondiazotrophic phytoplankton are nitrogen limited and control the nitrogen concentrations, but the iron supply is still too low relative to nitrate to support diazotrophy; 3) where iron supplies increase further relative to the nitrogen source, diazotrophs and other phytoplankton coexist; nitrogen concentrations are controlled by nondiazotrophs and iron concentrations are controlled by diazotrophs. The boundaries of these three provinces are defined by the rate of supply of iron relative to the supply of fixed nitrogen. The numerical model and theory provide a useful tool to understand the state of, links between, and response to changes in iron supply and phytoplankton community structure that have been suggested by observations.

Beschreibung: Depth-integrated models of primary production (DIMs) are used to estimate water column photosynthesis as a function of chlorophyll concentration, irradiance at the surface, the penetration of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), and parameters of the relationship between photosynthesis and PAR. These models are inherently unable to account for variability in the ratio of photosynthetically utilizable radiation (PUR) to PAR with depth and water type, and they cannot account for the inhibition of photosynthesis by ultraviolet radiation, UVR. These important spectral effects — all sensitive to climate change — are readily described with numerical models that require many computations and are unsuitable for some important applications, including the estimation of aquatic productivity from remote sensing. We present a simple DIM that accounts for the spectral effects of irradiance on photosynthesis, including inhibition by UVR. Water column photosynthesis, normalized to surface chlorophyll and scaled to the maximum rate per unit chlorophyll, is described as a function of four dimensionless derived variables: E*PUR, PUR at the surface scaled to the saturation irradiance for photosynthesis; T*PUR, water transparency, normalized to a depth scale and weighted spectrally for photosynthetic absorption; E*PIR, surface irradiance weighted spectrally for inhibition of photosynthesis; and T*PIR, scaled transparency weighted for photosynthesis-inhibiting radiation. Simple functions of these variables closely approximate (within 6%) the results of a full-spectral numerical model of instantaneous and daily integrated water column photosynthesis with and without UVR for a broad range of water types, solar angles, stratospheric ozone concentrations and biological properties of phytoplankton. The spectral DIM is suitable for examining patterns in global ocean productivity and can be used to assess the biological effects of variations in solar radiation (e.g., ozone depletion) and water clarity in climate-change scenarios for lakes and oceans.

Beschreibung: Observations from November 2006 in the southwestern Ross Sea indicate that stratification developed in a localized fashion, proximal to upper ocean fronts. These regions were hotspots for biological productivity, exhibiting greater drawdown of CO2 and accumulation of oxygen, indicative of enhanced photosynthesis and air-sea gas exchange. While the effect of stratification is clear, the reasons for its development was not; air temperatures were unseasonably cold, sea-ice melt and sea surface warming were not significant. By comparing a one-dimensional mixed layer model with two-dimensional numerical simulations that include horizontal density gradients characteristic of the region, it is shown that Ekman advection is critical to structuring early season stratification. Where fronts are forced by winds that oppose the surface frontal current, Ekman advection displaces lighter water over dense. As biological productivity is light limited in the Ross Sea, and thus sensitive to the depth of the mixed layer, Ekman restratification plays an important role in determining the spatial distribution and development of the annual phytoplankton bloom in the region. The presence of fronts is therefore of first-order importance to the restratification and bloom dynamics of the Ross Sea in the early spring.

Beschreibung: Biogeochemical cycling in the Southern Ocean (SO) plays a key role in the global sea-air CO2 balance and in the ocean anthropogenic carbon inventory (Ito et al., 2010; Khatiwala et al., 2009; Sarmiento et al., 2004). Some previous studies suggest a decreasing trend in the Southern Ocean carbon sink (Le Quéré et al., 2007; Lovenduski et al., 2007; Wetzel et al., 2005). We investigate the interannual and decadal variations in sea-air CO2 flux and phytoplankton production in the SO with hindcast simulations by an ocean biogeochemical model. Decreasing trends in sinking POC and primary production are found from 1979 to 2003, concurrent with a decreasing trend in carbon uptake from the atmosphere. Simulations show substantial interannual and decadal variability in productivity. The sea-air CO2 flux is significantly correlated with sinking POC, especially in high productivity regions of the Southern Ocean. Both mixed layer depths and iron concentrations are important to the long-term trends in production and phytoplankton community structure. Sea ice cover also plays an important role at high latitudes. Variability in dust deposition in recent decades has little influence on total SO productivity and carbon uptake, however, there are regional impacts near dust source regions. Accurately representing mixed layer depths and their impacts on phytoplankton light stress are critical for understanding how climate change impacts SO ecosystems and biogeochemistry.

Beschreibung: We report measurements of the nitrogen isotopic composition of nitrate (the δ15N of NO3−) across the equatorial Pacific, for zonal transects from 165°E to 95°W and meridional transects across 95° and 110°W. The δ15N of NO3− is similar in the equatorial thermocline (≈100 m) and intermediate depth waters (≈150 to 600 m), averaging (7.1 ± 0.3)‰ and (7.1 ± 0.1)‰, respectively. These values are more than 2‰ higher than subthermocline waters of the Southern and Atlantic Oceans and are ≈1‰ higher than putative source waters in the high latitude South Pacific (Subantarctic Mode Water, SAMW). The combined constraints of nitrate concentration and δ15N of NO3− in the equatorial Pacific require (1) lateral exchange between the high-latitude source waters and the zones of denitrification in the eastern tropical Pacific and (2) the accumulation of remineralized nutrients at depth. The zonal uniformity of the subsurface equatorial Pacific δ15N of NO3− indicates rapid transport within the equatorial zone, which works to homogenize the δ15N of NO3− across the Pacific basin. Against this backdrop of high δ15N of NO3− in the tropical Pacific, we find a discrete off-equatorial core of lower δ15N of NO3− (5.5 ± 0.3)‰ concentrated at 5°S and 150 to 200 m along the 110° and 95°W transects and in apparent association with the Southern Subsurface Counter Current (SSCC). We propose that the remineralized products of nitrogen fixation, at the source of the SSCC in the western south Pacific, are the origin of the low δ15N of NO3− in these waters.

Beschreibung: Forests of North America are thought to constitute a significant long-term sink for atmospheric carbon. The United States Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program has developed a large database of stock changes derived from consecutive estimates of growing stock volume in the U.S. These data reveal a large and relatively stable increase in forest carbon stocks over the last two decades or more. The mechanisms underlying this national increase in forest stocks may include recovery of forests from past disturbances, net increases in forest area, and growth enhancement driven by climate or fertilization by CO2 and Nitrogen. Here we estimate the forest recovery component of the observed stock changes using FIA data on the age structure of U.S. forests and carbon stocks as a function of age. The latter are used to parameterize forest disturbance and recovery processes in a carbon cycle model. We then apply resulting disturbance/recovery dynamics to landscapes and regions based on the forest age distributions. The analysis centers on 28 representative climate settings spread about forested regions of the conterminous U.S. We estimate carbon fluxes for each region and propagate uncertainties in calibration data through to the predicted fluxes. The largest recovery-driven carbon sinks are found in the South Central, Pacific Northwest, and Pacific Southwest regions, with spatially averaged net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of about 100 g C m−2 a−1 driven by forest age structure. Carbon sinks from recovery in the Northeast and Northern Lakes States remain moderate to large owing to the legacy of historical clearing and relatively low modern disturbance rates from harvest and fire. At the continental scale, we find a conterminous U.S. forest NEP of only 0.16 Pg C a−1 from age structure in 2005, or only 0.047 Pg C a−1 of forest stock change after accounting for fire emissions and harvest transfers. Recent estimates of NEP derived from inventory stock change, harvest, and fire data show twice the NEP sink we derive from forest age distributions. We discuss possible reasons for the discrepancies including modeling errors and the possibility of climate and/or fertilization (CO2 or N) growth enhancements.

Beschreibung: A mooring at 6°S, 10°W has been equipped with an oxygen optode and a Carioca sensor for monitoring hourly oxygen (O2) and the fugacity of CO2 (fCO2) at 1.5 m depth since June 2006. Due to biofouling, the oxygen time series lasted between 72 days in 2008 to 159 days in 2009. Using an alkalinity-salinity relationship determined for the area, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is calculated. Short-term and long-term net community productions (NCP) are calculated using a mass balance approach for DIC and O2 under the assumption of no mixing conditions. The mooring site is always supersaturated in oxygen except in 2007 when depleted oxygen waters are observed from June to September, during the upwelling season. Averaging all the short time events, NCP calculated from the rates of changes of O2 and DIC leads to a NCP of 16.6 ± 6.1 mmol C m−2d−1, ranging from 14.7 mmol C m−2d−1 in 2008 to 17.4 mmol C m−2d−1 in 2006. The mean daily oxygen biological production rate determined over the whole time series shows a significant year to year variability with 7.5 mmol C m−2d−1 in 2008 to 15.6 mmol C m−2d−1 in 2009. A photosynthetic quotient ranging between 1.0 to 1.3 has been determined when both carbon and oxygen NCP values are available.

Beschreibung: A procedure has been proposed by Ciotti and Bricaud (2006) to retrieve spectral absorption coefficients of phytoplankton and colored detrital matter (CDM) from satellite radiance measurements. This was also the first procedure to estimate a size factor for phytoplankton, based on the shape of the retrieved algal absorption spectrum, and the spectral slope of CDM absorption. Applying this method to the global ocean color data set acquired by SeaWiFS over twelve years (1998–2009), allowed for a comparison of the spatial variations of chlorophyll concentration ([Chl]), algal size factor (Sf), CDM absorption coefficient (acdm) at 443 nm, and spectral slope of CDM absorption (Scdm). As expected, correlations between the derived parameters were characterized by a large scatter at the global scale. We compared temporal variability of the spatially averaged parameters over the twelve-year period for three oceanic areas of biogeochemical importance: the Eastern Equatorial Pacific, the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. In all areas, both Sf and acdm(443) showed large seasonal and interannual variations, generally correlated to those of algal biomass. The CDM maxima appeared in some occasions to last longer than those of [Chl]. The spectral slope of CDM absorption showed very large seasonal cycles consistent with photobleaching, challenging the assumption of a constant slope commonly used in bio-optical models. In the Equatorial Pacific, the seasonal cycles of [Chl], Sf, acdm(443) and Scdm, as well as the relationships between these parameters, were strongly affected by the 1997–98 El Niño/La Niña event.

Beschreibung: To test the hypothesis that ocean margin sediments are a key final repository in the large-scale biogeospheric cycling of soot black carbon (soot-BC), an extensive survey was conducted along the ∼2,000 km stretch of the Swedish Continental Shelf (SCS). The soot-BC content in the 120 spatially distributed SCS sediments was 0.180.130.26% dw (median with interquartile ranges), corresponding to ∼5% of total organic carbon. Using side-scan sonar constraints to estimate the areal fraction of postglacial clay sediments that are accumulation bottoms (15% of SCS), the soot-BC inventory in the SCS mixed surface sediment was estimated at ∼4,000 Gg. Combining this with radiochronological constraints on sediment mass accumulation fluxes, the soot-BC sink on the SCS was ∼300 Gg/yr, which yielded an area-extrapolated estimate for the Northern European Shelf (NES) of ∼1,100 Gg/yr. This sediment soot-BC sink is ∼50 times larger than the river discharge fluxes of soot-BC to these coastal waters, however, of similar magnitude as estimates of atmospheric soot-BC emission from the upwind European continent. While large uncertainties remain regarding the large-scale to global BC cycle, this study combines with two previous investigations to suggest that continental shelf sediments are a major final repository of atmospheric soot-BC. Future progress on the soot-BC cycle and how it interacts with the full carbon cycle is likely to benefit from 14C determinations of the sedimentary soot-BC and similar extensive studies of coastal sediment in complementary regimes such as off heavily soot-BC-producing areas in S and E Asia and on the large pan-Arctic shelf.

Beschreibung: Lakes and reservoirs typically emit CO2 to the atmosphere as a result of respiration in excess of primary production. For reservoirs, this respiration is often assumed to be primarily of benthic origin, associated with drowned vegetation and soils. This study took measurements from a young hydroelectric reservoir (Eastmain-1) in boreal Canada and nearby natural lakes to compare the rates of water column respiration and hypolimnetic CO2 accumulation during a stratified period. Reservoir water column respiration rates were significantly higher than those in natural lakes, with surface means of 61.4 ± 4.6 mg C m−3 d−1 in Eastmain-1 and 40.2 ± 3 mg C m−3 d−1 in lakes and profundal means of 58.1 ± 11 mg C m−3 d−1 in Eastmain-1 and 17.6 ± 7.5 mg C m−3 d−1 in lakes. Reservoir hypolimnetic CO2 accumulation rates were also higher than those in natural lakes, with means of 78.8 ± 16 mg C m−3 d−1 in Eastmain-1 and 19.8 ± 2.7 mg C m−3 d−1 in lakes. Our findings further indicate that the relative contribution of benthic respiration (estimated as the difference between hypolimnetic CO2 accumulation and water column respiration) toward total net CO2 production during stratified periods was similar in both aquatic systems (23% in lakes, 27% in Eastmain-1). By identifying the major role of the water column in the reservoir's CO2 production, this study calls for a significant paradigm shift away from the common assumption that reservoir CO2 emissions are predominantly the result of decaying vegetation in the benthic environment.

Beschreibung: Southern Ocean Island systems sustain phytoplankton blooms induced by natural iron fertilization that are important for the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide and serve as analogues for past and future climate change. We present data on diatom flux assemblages and the biogeochemical properties of sinking particles to explain the enhanced particulate organic carbon (POC) export fluxes observed in response to natural iron supply in the Crozet Islands region (CROZeX). Moored deep-ocean sediment traps (〉2000 m) were located beneath a naturally fertilized island bloom and beneath an adjacent High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) control site. Deep-ocean carbon flux from the naturally-fertilized bloom area was tightly correlated (R = 0.83, n = 12, P 〈 0.0006) with the resting spore flux of a single island-associated diatom species, Eucampia antarctica var. antarctica. The unusually well preserved state of the Eucampia-associated carbon flux, determined by amino acid studies of organic matter degradation, was likely influenced by their ecology, since diatom resting spores are adapted to settle rapidly out of the surface ocean preserving viable cells. The naturally fertilized bloom enhanced carbon flux and the resulting Si/C and Si/N ratios were 2.0–3.4-fold and 2.2–3.5-fold lower than those measured in the adjacent HNLC control area. The enhanced carbon export and distinctive stoichiometry observed in naturally fertilized systems is therefore largely not attributable to iron relief of open ocean diatoms, but rather to the advection and growth of diatom species characteristic of island systems and the subsequent flux of resting spores. Carbon export estimates from current natural iron fertilization studies therefore represent a highly specific response of the island systems chosen as natural laboratories and may not be appropriate analogues for the larger Southern Ocean response. The broader implications of our results emphasize the role of phytoplankton diversity and ecology and highlight the need for a species-centered approach in order to understand the regulation of biogeochemical fluxes.

Beschreibung: Does the soil microbial biomass (SMB) in terrestrial ecosystems present well- constrained atomic carbon:nitrogen:phosphorus (C:N:P) ratios, analogous to the planktonic biomass in marine ecosystems? How do soil microbes respond to changes in the soil environment in terms of their elemental stoichiometry? Following up on the work of Cleveland and Liptzin (2007), we examined the stoichiometry of C, N and P in the soil and SMB and their relationships at both the landscape and land-use levels in subtropical terrestrial ecosystems. 1,069 soil samples were collected at a depth of 0–20 cm from three typical landscapes (a karst mountain, a low hill and a lowland) in southern subtropical China. The landscapes presented various land-use types (e.g., paddy field, upland, woodland, etc.) and intensities of anthropogenic activity. The samples were analyzed to determine soil organic C, total soil N and total soil P contents as well as SMB C, SMB N and SMB P. On average, atomic C:N:P ratios of 80:7.9:1 in the soil and 70.2:6:1 in the SMB were obtained for the region. A clear descending trend of the soil C:N:P ratios (not the SMB C:N:P ratios) was observed across the three landscapes in the order: karst mountain 〉 low hill 〉 lowland. Although significant variations primarily related to human activities were observed in the soil and SMB atomic C:N:P ratios across the landscapes and land-use types, a significant correlation (r = 0.56, p 〈 0.001) was found between the soil and SMB C:P ratios in the entire data set; however, the correlation for the comparable N:P ratios was not evident. Significant correlations between the soil and SMB C:N, C:P and even N:P ratios (mainly in the woodland) were also observed variably at the finer level of the landscape or land-use. The tendency for a C:N:P stoichiometric relationship to exist between microbes and the soil environment found in this study might suggest possible non-homeostasis of elemental stoichiometry in the SMB of the terrestrial ecosystems in southern subtropical China.

Beschreibung: We present a data set of atmospheric potential oxygen (APO = O2 + 1.1 × CO2) based on the atmospheric O2/N2 and CO2 measurements of flask samples collected at two monitoring stations in Japan and on commercial cargo ships sailing between Japan and U.S./Canada and Australia/New Zealand. Since APO is invariant with respect to the terrestrial biotic exchange, its variation mainly reflects the spatiotemporal distribution in the air-to-sea gas exchange. From the observed APO for the years 2002–2008, we find: (1) elevated annual mean values near the equator, (2) elevated annual mean values and large seasonal amplitudes in the northwestern North Pacific, and (3) a deep trough of low annual mean values at latitudes 20–40°N in the Western Pacific. In addition, latitudinal distributions in the timing of the observed seasonal maximum and minimum show asymmetric patterns across the equator. Comparing these observations with a series of simulated APO generated in the NIES99 atmospheric transport model driven by a set of climatological oceanic O2 and CO2 flux fields, we find a good agreement except for the observed deep trough at the midlatitude. Simulations with different transport mechanisms and fluxes reveal that the seasonal covariation between oceanic O2 flux and atmospheric transport contribute significantly to the observed APO variations in the northern North Pacific; also the seasonal variation in the meridional transport affects the latitudinal difference in the seasonal cycle. The observed latitudinal gradient of the annual mean APO in the Southern Hemisphere is better reproduced by the model based on the recently revised ocean CO2 flux distribution than that based on the previous CO2 flux distribution. The observed APO trough at 36°N in the Western Pacific is about 10 per meg lower than the simulation with the more recent pCO2 data, suggesting the existence of additional APO sinks in that latitudinal region. Indeed, a model simulation performed with an additional ocean O2 sink flux of about 30 Tmol yr−1 within the region (30–50°N, 120–180°E) reproduces considerably well the observed APO trough.

Beschreibung: Rates of net community production (NCP) and air-sea CO2 flux in the Northeast Pacific subarctic, transition zone and subtropical regions (22°N–50°N, 145°W–152°W) were determined on a cruise in August–September 2008 by continuous measurement of surface values of the ratio of dissolved oxygen to argon (O2/Ar) and the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2). These estimates were compared with simultaneous measurements of sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a (chl-a), flow cytometry, and discrete surface nutrient concentrations. NCP and CO2 influx were greatest in the subarctic (45°N–50°N, 25.8 ± 4.6 and 4.1 ± 0.9 mmol C m−2 d−1) and northern transition zone (40°N–45°N, 17.1 ± 4.4 and 2.1 ± 0.5 mmol C m−2 d−1), with mean NCP ∼6–8× greater than mean CO2 invasion (error estimates reflect 1 σ confidence intervals). Contrastingly, the southern transition zone (32°N–40°N) and subtropics (22°N–32°N) had lower mean NCP (5.4 ± 1.8 and 8.1 ± 2.1 mmol C m−2 d−1, respectively) and mean CO2 efflux (3.0 ± 0.5 and 0.1 ± 0.0 mmol C m−2 d−1, respectively). In the subarctic and transition zone, NCP was highly correlated with surface chl-a and CO2 influx, indicating strong coupling between the biological pump and CO2 uptake. Meridional trends in our NCP estimates in the transition zone and subtropics were similar to those for integrated summertime NCP along the cruise track determined using an upper ocean climatological carbon budget.

Beschreibung: Using in situ measurements, we find a semiannual oscillation (SAO) in the midtropospheric and surface CO2. Chemistry transport models (2-D Caltech/JPL model, 3-D GEOS-Chem, and 3-D MOZART-2) are used to investigate possible sources for the SAO signal in the midtropospheric and surface CO2. From model sensitivity studies, it is revealed that the SAO signal in the midtropospheric CO2 originates mainly from surface CO2 with a small contribution from transport fields. It is also found that the source for the SAO signal in surface CO2 is mostly related to the CO2 exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere. By comparing model CO2 with in situ CO2 measurements at the surface, we find that models are able to capture both annual and semiannual cycles well at the surface. Model simulations of the annual and semiannual cycles of CO2 in the tropical middle troposphere agree reasonably well with aircraft measurements.

Beschreibung: To guide the future development of CO2-atmospheric inversion modeling systems, we analyzed the errors arising from prior information about terrestrial ecosystem fluxes. We compared the surface fluxes calculated by a process-based terrestrial ecosystem model with daily averages of CO2 flux measurements at 156 sites across the world in the FLUXNET network. At the daily scale, the standard deviation of the model-data fit was 2.5 gC·m−2·d−1; temporal autocorrelations were significant at the weekly scale (〉0.3 for lags less than four weeks), while spatial correlations were confined to within the first few hundred kilometers (

Beschreibung: Standard metabolic theory predicts that both respiration and photosynthesis should increase with increasing temperature, albeit at different rates. However, test of this prediction for ocean planktonic communities is limited, despite the broad consequences of this prediction in the present context of global ocean warming. We compiled a large data set on volumetric planktonic metabolism in the open ocean and tested the relationship between specific metabolic rates and water temperature. The relationships derived are consistent with predictions derived from metabolic theory of ecology, yielding activation energy for planktonic metabolism consistent with predictions from the metabolic theory. These relationships can be used to predict the effect of warming on ocean metabolism and, thus, the role of planktonic communities in the flow of carbon in the global ocean.

Beschreibung: Marine dissolved organic matter is a massive reservoir of carbon holding 〉200x the ocean biomass inventory. Primarily produced at the ocean surface and then exported to depth with overturn of the water column, this carbon can be sequestered in the ocean interior for centuries. Understanding the loss of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) upon export has been data limited, but recent global ocean surveys are overcoming that problem. Here we characterize three fractions of exported carbon by apparent continuity in removal rates: semi-labile and semi-refractory, summing to 20 PgC, and the balance as refractory DOC. Distinct lifetimes coupled with ocean circulation control where the fractions are exported to depth, and thus the carbon sequestration time scales. Maximum remineralization rates of exported DOC occur in the convergent subtropical gyres, where a range of ∼500 to

Beschreibung: Soil moisture is a key driver of biogeochemical processes in terrestrial ecosystems, strongly affecting carbon (C) and nutrient availability as well as trace gas production and consumption in soils. Models predict increasing drought frequency in tropical forest ecosystems, which could feed back on future climate change directly via effects on trace gasdynamics and indirectly through changes in nutrient availability. We used throughfall exclusion shelters to determine effects of short-term (3 month) drought on trace gas fluxes and nutrient availability in humid tropical forests in Puerto Rico. Exclusion and control plots were replicated within and across three topographic zones (ridge, slope, valley) to account for spatial heterogeneity typical of these ecosystems. Throughfall exclusion reduced soil moisture in all sites and lowered exchangeable phosphorus (P) on ridges and slopes. Drought decreased soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 30% in ridge sites and 28% in slope sites, and increased net methane (CH4) consumption by 480% in valley sites. Both valley and ridge sites became net nitrous oxide (N2O) sinks in response to soil drying. Emissions of CO2 and N2O, as well as CH4 consumption were positively related to exchangeable P and the nitrate:ammonium ratio. These findings suggest that drought has the potential to decrease net trace gas emissions from humid tropical forest soils. The differential response of trace gas emissions and nutrients from different topographic zones to drought underscores the complexity of biogeochemical cycling in these ecosystems and the importance of considering spatial heterogeneity when estimating whole system responses.

Beschreibung: Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions are important, but poorly quantified, components of riverine carbon (C) budgets. This is largely because the data needed for gas flux calculations are sparse and are spatially and temporally variable. Additionally, the importance of C gas emissions relative to lateral C exports is not well known because gaseous and aqueous fluxes are not commonly measured on the same rivers. We couple measurements of aqueous CO2 and CH4 partial pressures (pCO2, pCH4) and flux across the water-air interface with gas transfer models to calculate subbasin distributions of gas flux density. We then combine those flux densities with remote and direct observations of stream and river water surface area and ice duration, to calculate C gas emissions from flowing waters throughout the Yukon River basin. CO2 emissions were 7.68 Tg C yr−1 (95% CI: 5.84 −10.46), averaging 750 g C m−2 yr−1 normalized to water surface area, and 9.0 g C m−2 yr−1 normalized to river basin area. River CH4 emissions totaled 55 Gg C yr−1 or 0.7% of the total mass of C emitted as CO2 plus CH4 and ∼6.4% of their combined radiative forcing. When combined with lateral inorganic plus organic C exports to below head of tide, C gas emissions comprised 50% of total C exported by the Yukon River and its tributaries. River CO2 and CH4 derive from multiple sources, including groundwater, surface water runoff, carbonate equilibrium reactions, and benthic and water column microbial processing of organic C. The exact role of each of these processes is not yet quantified in the overall river C budget.

Beschreibung: A series of seasonally distributed measurements from the six largest Arctic rivers (the Ob', Yenisey, Lena, Kolyma, Yukon and Mackenzie) was used to examine the magnitude and significance of Arctic riverine DIC flux to larger scale C dynamics within the Arctic system. DIC concentration showed considerable, and synchronous, seasonal variation across these six large Arctic rivers, which have an estimated combined annual DIC flux of 30 Tg C yr−1. By examining the relationship between DIC flux and landscape variables known to regulate riverine DIC, we extrapolate to a DIC flux of 57 ± 9.9 Tg C yr−1 for the full pan-arctic basin, and show that DIC export increases with runoff, the extent of carbonate rocks and glacial coverage, but decreases with permafrost extent. This pan-arctic riverine DIC estimate represents 13–15% of the total global DIC flux. The annual flux of selected ions (HCO3−, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Sr2+, and Cl−) from the six largest Arctic rivers confirms that chemical weathering is dominated by inputs from carbonate rocks in the North American watersheds, but points to a more important role for silicate rocks in Siberian watersheds. In the coastal ocean, river water-induced decreases in aragonite saturation (i.e., an ocean acidification effect) appears to be much more pronounced in Siberia than in the North American Arctic, and stronger in the winter and spring than in the late summer. Accounting for seasonal variation in the flux of DIC and other major ions gives a much clearer understanding of the importance of riverine DIC within the broader pan-arctic C cycle.

Beschreibung: Aircraft measurements of carbon and hydrogen isotopic ratios of atmospheric CH4 (δ13CH4 and δD-CH4), with the respective precisions of 0.08‰ and 2.2‰, as well as CH4 concentration were made at 1 and 2 km altitudes over western Siberia during 2006–2009. δ13CH4 and δD-CH4 were almost always lower at lower altitudes, while the CH4 concentration was higher, implying strong sources on the ground with low isotopic values. δ13CH4 showed a clear seasonal minimum in the late summer, while seasonality of CH4 and δD-CH4 was ambiguous due to the local disturbances. By inspecting the relationships between the CH4 concentration and isotopes, we found that isotopic source signatures in the winter (December–April) are −41.2 ± 1.8 and −187 ± 18‰ for δ13CH4 and δD-CH4, respectively, and the corresponding values in the summer (June–October) are −65.0 ± 2.5 and −282 ± 25‰. These values indicate predominant CH4 emissions from fossil fuel facilities in the winter and wetlands in the summer. It was also found that the shorter-term CH4 variations are more influenced by fossil CH4 than that from wetlands. The finding presumably reflects the fact that the former is released from limited areas such as leakage from fossil fuel facilities, while the latter is released from a vast expanse of wetland. By employing a CH4 emission data set used in an atmospheric chemistry transport model, we calculated seasonal isotopic changes of CH4 sources in western Siberia and compared them to the estimates obtained in this study. The results indicated that the seasonal change in the CH4 emission data set is reasonable, at least in terms of a ratio of fossil to biogenic emissions.

Beschreibung: The upper basin of Effingham Inlet possesses permanently anoxic bottom waters, with a water column redox transition zone typically occurring at least 40 m above the sediment-water interface. During our sampling campaign in April and July 2007, this redox transition zone was associated with sharp peaks in a variety of parameters, including soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and total particulate phosphorus (TPP). Based on sequential extraction results, TPP maxima exhibited preferential accumulation of an operationally defined class of loosely adsorbed organic phosphorus (P), which may contain a substantial fraction of polyphosphate (poly-P). This poly-P may furthermore be involved in the redox-dependent remobilization of SRP. For example, direct fluorometric analysis of poly-P content revealed that particulate inorganic poly-P was present at concentrations ranging from 1 to 9 nM P within and several meters above the TPP maximum. Below the depth of 1% oxygen saturation, however, particulate inorganic poly-P was undetectable (

Beschreibung: Although ponds make up roughly half of the total area of surface water in permafrost landscapes, their relevance to carbon dioxide emissions on a landscape scale has, to date, remained largely unknown. We have therefore investigated the inflows and outflows of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon from lakes, ponds, and outlets on Samoylov Island, in the Lena Delta of northeastern Siberia in September 2008, together with their carbon dioxide emissions. Outgassing of carbon dioxide (CO2) from these ponds and lakes, which cover 25% of Samoylov Island, was found to account for between 74 and 81% of the calculated net landscape-scale CO2 emissions of 0.2–1.1 g C m−2 d−1 during September 2008, of which 28–43% was from ponds and 27–46% from lakes. The lateral export of dissolved carbon was negligible compared to the gaseous emissions due to the small volumes of runoff. The concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon in the ponds were found to triple during freezeback, highlighting their importance for temporary carbon storage between the time of carbon production and its emission as CO2. If ponds are ignored the total summer emissions of CO2-C from water bodies of the islands within the entire Lena Delta (0.7–1.3 Tg) are underestimated by between 35 and 62%.

Beschreibung: The composition and bioavailability of particulate P influence marine biological community production on both modern and geologic time-scales, and continental margins play a critical role in the supply, modification, and storage of particulate P. This study examined particulate P cycling in the Santa Barbara Basin (SBB) off the coast of southern California using a ∼520 m deep-moored sediment trap deployed from 1993–2006 and a sediment core collected in 2005 directly beneath the sediment trap at 590 m. Total particulate P (TPP), particulate inorganic P (PIP), and particulate organic P (POP) were quantified using a 5-step sequential extraction method (SEDEX) that chemically separates PIP into loosely bound, oxide-bound, authigenic, and detrital P phases. POP fluxes, while similar in magnitude to other coastal regions (22 ± 10 μmol m−2 d−1) were a small component of the TPP pool (15%). Seasonal trends revealed significant increases in POP fluxes during upwelling due to increased biological production in surface waters by organisms that increased mineral ballast. High particulate organic carbon (POC) to POP ratios (337 ± 18) further indicated rapid and efficient remineralization of POP relative to POC as particles sank through the oxic water column; however, further reduction of POP ceased in the deeper anoxic waters. Loosely bound, oxide-bound, and authigenic P, dominated the TPP pool, with PIP fluxes substantially higher than those measured in other coastal settings. Strong correlations between oxide-associated, authigenic, and detrital P fluxes with lithogenic material indicated a terrestrial source associated with riverine discharge. Furthermore, more than 30% of the loosely bound and oxide-bound P was remineralized prior to burial, with the magnitude of dissolution far exceeding that of POP. These results highlight the dynamic nature of the particulate P pool in coastal ecosystems and how changes in P source can alter the composition and lability of P that enters coastal waters.

Beschreibung: An approach that combines a recently developed procedure for improved estimation of surface chlorophyll a concentration (Chlsurf) from ocean color and a phytoplankton class-specific bio-optical model was used to examine primary production in the Mediterranean Sea. Specifically, this approach was applied to the 10 year time series of satellite Chlsurf data from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor. We estimated the primary production associated with three major phytoplankton classes (micro, nano, and picophytoplankton), which also yielded new estimates of the total primary production (Ptot). These estimates of Ptot (e.g., 68 g C m−2 yr−1 for the entire Mediterranean basin) are lower by a factor of ∼2 and show a different seasonal cycle when compared with results from conventional approaches based on standard ocean color chlorophyll algorithm and a non-class-specific primary production model. Nanophytoplankton are found to be dominant contributors to Ptot (43–50%) throughout the year and entire basin. Micro and picophytoplankton exhibit variable contributions to Ptot depending on the season and ecological regime. In the most oligotrophic regime, these contributions are relatively stable all year long with picophytoplankton (∼32%) playing a larger role than microphytoplankton (∼22%). In the blooming regime, picophytoplankton dominate over microphytoplankton most of the year, except during the spring bloom when microphytoplankton (27–38%) are considerably more important than picophytoplankton (20–27%).