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The phytoplankton pigment composition (chlorophylls and carotenoids) from 17 Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) cruises over the period 1995–2005 was analysed to determine the distributions of pigments and plankton in the Atlantic Ocean between 50°N and 50°S. Data were quality assured by statistical methods, including regression of total chlorophyll a (TChla) versus accessory pigments (AP) and comparison of the AMT-TChla with contemporary SeaWiFS-TChla (cruises AMT-05 to -17). Comparisons of province-mean TChla (±SD) for in situ and satellite data showed good agreement for each cruise. ‘Taxa-specific’ pigments were used to define phytoplankton functional types (PFTs) for each of the biogeochemical provinces along the AMT. Pigment ratios (e.g. TChla/AP) were analysed for each cruise and for each province as indices (characteristic properties) of particular PFTs. Mostly robust positive correlations were observed between TChla and pigment ratios for different PFTs, for some provinces and most cruises. These were consistent with previous observations. Generally there were no significant trends of mean TChla or pigment ratios within provinces over the period 1995–2005, although the previously reported perturbation due to the 1997–1998 ENSO was evident.

Photosynthetic electron transport directly generates the energy required for carbon fixation and thus underlies the aerobic metabolism of aquatic systems. We determined photosynthetic electron turnover rates, ETRs, from ca. 100 FRR fluorescence water-column profiles throughout the subtropical and tropical Atlantic during six Atlantic Meridional Transect cruises (AMT 6, May–June 1998, to AMT 11, September–October 2000). Each FRR fluorescence profile yielded a water-column ETR-light response from which the maximum electron turnover rate ( ETR RCII max ) , effective absorption (σPSII) and light saturation parameter (Ek) specific to the concentration of photosystem II reaction centres (RCIIs) were calculated. ETR RCII max and Ek increased whilst σPSII decreased with mixed-layer depth and the daily integrated photosynthetically active photon flux when all provinces were considered together. These trends suggested that variability in maximum ETR can be partly attributed to changes in effective absorption. Independent bio-optical measurements taken during AMT 11 demonstrated that σPSII variability reflects taxonomic and physiological differences in the phytoplankton communities. ETR RCII max and Ek, but not σPSII, remained correlated with mixed-layer depth and daily integrated photosynthetically active photon flux when data from each oceanic province were considered separately, indicating a decoupling of electron turnover and carbon fixation rates within each province. Comparison of maximum ETRs with 14C-based measurements of Pmax further suggests that light absorption and C fixation are coupled to differing extents for the various oligotrophic Atlantic provinces. We explore the importance of quantifying RCII concentration for determination of ETRs and interpretation of ETR-C fixation coupling.

Coincident pigment and underwater radiometric data were collected during a cruise along the 20°W meridian from 60°N to 37°N in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean as part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) thematic programme: plankton reactivity in the marine environment (PRIME). These data were used to simulate the retrieval of two bio-optical variables from remotelysensed measurements of ocean colour (for example by the NASA Sea-viewing wide field-of-view sensor, SeaWiFS), using two-band semi-empirical algorithms. The variables considered were the diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490 nm, ( K d (490), units: m −1 ) and the phytoplankton pigment concentration expressed as optically-weighted chlorophyll- a concentration [ C a , units: mg m −3 ]. There was good agreement between the measured and the retrieved bio-optical values. Algorithms based on the PRIME data were generated to compare the performance of local algorithms (algorithms which apply to a restricted area and/or season) with global algorithms (algorithms developed on data from a wide variety of water masses). The use of local algorithms improved the average accuracy, but not the precision, of the retrievals: errors were still ±36% ( K d ) and ±117% ( C a ) using local algorithms.

The use of CZCS-type band-ratio algorithms to estimate the diffuse attenuation coefficient, percentage light depths, and near-surface optically weighted phytoplankton pigment concentrations from remotely sensed ocean colour data was investigated on two cruises in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman during autumn and winter 1994. The variations of upwelling radiance and downwelling irradiance with depth were measured along with phytoplankton pigment concentrations by HPLC. A spectroradiometer was used on the second cruise to investigate the feasibility of measuring water-leaving radiance from above the sea surface. Retrieval of the diffuse downwelling attenuation coefficient at 490 nm was accurate to within 22% of the actual value across both cruises. There was also a robust relationship between the diffuse attenuation coefficient and the 10, 1 and 0.1% light depths. Above-surface estimates of water-leaving radiance agreed with SeaWiFS-standard estimates to within 10% between 443 and 555 nm. The global 443 : 555 band-ratio algorithms of Aiken et al. [NASA Tech. Memo 104566, Vol. 29, SeaWiFS Technical Report Series, 34 pp] estimated near-surface chlorophyll-a and fluorometric pigment concentrations with mean absolute errors of less than 35% of the actual values (which were all less than 2.0 mg m-3). The performance of algorithms based on the 490 : 555 ratio was poorer. The estimates given by the algorithms were generally higher than the measured pigment concentrations and the variance of the accuracy of the estimates was high. There appears to be no significant change in the performance of the algorithms between cruises (approximately 2 1 2 months apart in time). There is no evidence that the Gulf of Oman should be treated as a separate bio-optical province to the Arabian Sea/Omani shelf area for the purpose of the retrieval of near-surface pigment concentrations from ocean colour observations.

We present a synthesis of physical, chemical and biological shipboard observations of a convergent front at 2°N, 140°W and its surrounding environment. The front was a component of a tropical instability wave generated by shear between westward-flowing equatorial waters to the south and warmer equatorial counter current water to the north. Surface waters on the cold side were undersaturated with oxygen, which suggests that the water had only been exposed at the sea surface for a period of a few weeks. Although the atmospheric exposure time was short, the effects of biological activity could be detected in enhanced concentrations of total (dissolved plus suspended particulate) organic carbon concentration, proving that TOC can be produced in the top centimeters of the changing environmental conditions. The front itself was dominated by the accumulation of a “patch” of buoyant diatoms Rhizosolenia castracanei concentrated in the top centimeters of the warm surface water north of the front, and elevated chlorophyll concentrations were observed from the air over a spatial scale of order 10–20 km northward from the front. The nitrogen budget and thorium data suggest that a significant fraction of the elevated POC, and virtually all of the PON, arrived in the patch waters as imported particles rather than in situ photosynthesis. Photosynthetic uptake of carbon appears to have occurred in patch waters, but without corresponding uptake of fixed nitrogen (an uncoupling of the usual Redfield stoichiometry). Solute chemistry of the patch appears to be controlled by turbulent mixing, which flushes out patch waters on a time scale of days

Rates of phytoplankton production and nitrogen assimilation were measured at various stations along a transect in the northwestern Indian Ocean, from near the equator, northwards into the upwelling system off the Arabian peninsula, during September–October 1986. The measurements were made using in situ incubation techniques with the simultaneous use of 14C and 15N isotopes. Samples were fractionated after the incubations into three size classes: 0.2–0.8μm, 0.8–5.0 μm, and >5.0μm for the 14C incubations; and 5μm for the 15N incubations. The assimilation of nitrate and ammonium was measured. These measurements were supported by a detailed description of the horizontal and vertical distributions of chlorophyll, temperature and underwater light field, by the deployment of a towed undulating oceanographic recorder. Rates of primary production ranged from approximately 0.5 g C m−2 day−1 at the equator, reducing to 2.5 in the upwelling region off the coast of Oman; total nitrogen assimilation followed a similar pattern. Very significant variations in the size distribution of the activity of the plankton were observed. Over 75% of the carbon and nitrogen assimilation was in the