News
Observing the Global Ocean with Biogeochemical-Argo
Abstract.
"Biogeochemical-Argo (BGC-Argo) is a network of profiling floats carrying sensors that enable observation of as many as six essential biogeochemical and bio-optical variables: oxygen, nitrate, pH, chlorophyll a, suspended particles, and downwelling irradiance. This sensor network represents today's most promising strategy for collecting temporally and vertically resolved observations of biogeochemical properties throughout the ocean. All data are freely available within 24 hours of transmission. These data fill large gaps in ocean-observing systems and support three ambitions: gaining a better understanding of biogeochemical processes (e.g., the biological[...]"
Source: Annual Review of Marine Science
Authors: Hervé Claustre et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-010419-010956
Discovery and Mapping of the Triton Seep Site, Redondo Knoll: Fluid Flow and Microbial Colonization Within an Oxygen Minimum Zone
Abstract.
"This paper examines a deep-water (∼900 m) cold-seep discovered in a low oxygen environment ∼30 km off the California coast in 2015 during an E/V Nautilus telepresence-enabled cruise. This Triton site was initially detected from bubble flares identified via shipboard multibeam sonar and was then confirmed visually using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Hercules. High resolution mapping (to 1 cm resolution) and co-registered imaging has provided us with a comprehensive site overview – both of the geologic setting and the extent of the associated microbial colonization. [...]"
Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Jamie K. S. Wagner et al.
DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00108
Climatic, physical, and biogeochemical changes drive rapid oxygen loss and recovery in a marine ecosystem
Abstract.
"Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations shape the biogeochemistry and ecological structure of aquatic ecosystems; as a result, understanding how and why DO varies in space and time is of fundamental importance. Using high-resolution, in situ DO time-series collected over the course of a year in a novel marine ecosystem (Jellyfish Lake, Palau), we show that DO declined throughout the marine lake and subsequently recovered in the upper water column. [...]"
Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Jesse Wilson et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52430-z
The influence of dissolved organic matter on the marine production of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and carbon disulfide (CS2) in the Peruvian upwelling
Abstract.
"Oceanic emissions of the climate-relevant trace gases carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and carbon disulfide (CS2) are a major source to their atmospheric budget. Their current and future emission estimates are still uncertain due to incomplete process understanding and therefore inexact quantification across different biogeochemical regimes. [...]"
Source: Ocean Science
Authors: Sinikka T. Lennartz et al.
DOI: 10.5194/os-15-1071-2019
Evolving paradigms in biological carbon cycling in the ocean
Abstract.
"Carbon is a keystone element in global biogeochemical cycles. It plays a fundamental role in biotic and abiotic processes in the ocean, which intertwine to mediate the chemistry and redox status of carbon in the ocean and the atmosphere. The interactions between abiotic and biogenic carbon (e.g. CO2, CaCO3, organic matter) in the ocean are complex, and there is a half-century-old enigma about the existence of a huge reservoir of recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon (RDOC) that equates to the magnitude of the pool of atmospheric CO2. The concepts of the biological carbon pump (BCP) and the microbial loop (ML) shaped our understanding of the marine carbon cycle. [...]"
Source: National Science Review
Authors: Chuanlun Zhang et al.
DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwy074
Interpreting Mosaics of Ocean Biogeochemistry
"Sea level rise, heat transport, ocean acidification, these ocean processes, well known in the public sphere, play out on a regional to global scale. But less well known are more localized processes that bring some ecological niches together, keep others separated, and help sustain ocean life by circulating nutrients.
Physical processes in the ocean that take place over intermediate and small scales of space and time play a key role in vertical seawater exchange. They also have significant effects on chemical, biological, and ecological processes in the upper ocean. [...]"
Source: EOS
(2010) The Growing Human Footprint on Coastal and Open-Ocean Biogeochemistry
Abstract.
"Climate change, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, excess nutrient inputs, and pollution in its many forms are fundamentally altering the chemistry of the ocean, often on a global scale and, in some cases, at rates greatly exceeding those in the historical and recent geological record. Major observed trends include a shift in the acid-base chemistry of seawater, reduced subsurface oxygen both in near-shore coastal water and in the open ocean, rising coastal nitrogen levels, and widespread increase in mercury and persistent organic pollutants. [...]"
Source: Science
Author: Scott C. Doney
DOI: 10.1126/science.1185198