Search

Measuring temperature and salinity profiles in the world's oceans is crucial to understanding ocean dynamics and its influence on the heat budget, the water cycle, the marine environment and on our climate. Since 1983 the German research vessel and icebreaker Polarstern has been the platform of numerous CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth instrument) deployments in the Arctic and the Antarctic. We report on a unique data collection spanning 33 years of polar CTD data. In total 131 data sets (1 data set per cruise leg) containing data from 10 063 CTD casts are now freely available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.860066. During this long period five CTD types with different characteristics and accuracies have been used. Therefore the instruments and processing procedures (sensor calibration, data validation, etc.) are described in detail. This compilation is special not only with regard to the quantity but also the quality of the data – the latter indicated for each data set using defined quality codes. The complete data collection includes a number of repeated sections for which the quality code can be used to investigate and evaluate long-term changes. Beginning with 2010, the salinity measurements presented here are of the highest quality possible in this field owing to the introduction of the OPTIMARE Precision Salinometer.

In coupled biogeochmical–ocean models, the choice of numerical schemes in the ocean circulation component can have a large influence on the distribution of the biological tracers. Biogeochemical models are traditionally coupled to ocean general circulation models (OGCMs), which are based on dynamical cores employing quasi-regular meshes, and therefore utilize limited spatial resolution in a global setting. An alternative approach is to use an unstructured-mesh ocean model, which allows variable mesh resolution. Here, we present initial results of a coupling between the Finite Element Sea Ice–Ocean Model (FESOM) and the biogeochemical model REcoM2 (Regulated Ecosystem Model 2), with special focus on the Southern Ocean. Surface fields of nutrients, chlorophyll a and net primary production (NPP) were compared to available data sets with a focus on spatial distribution and seasonal cycle. The model produces realistic spatial distributions, especially regarding NPP and chlorophyll a, whereas the iron concentration becomes too low in the Pacific Ocean. The modelled NPP is 32.5 Pg C yr−1 and the export production 6.1 Pg C yr−1, which is lower than satellite-based estimates, mainly due to excessive iron limitation in the Pacific along with too little coastal production. The model performs well in the Southern Ocean, though the assessment here is hindered by the lower availability of observations. The modelled NPP is 3.1 Pg C yr−1 in the Southern Ocean and the export production 1.1 Pg C yr−1. All in all, the combination of a circulation model on an unstructured grid with a biogeochemical–ocean model shows similar performance to other models at non-eddy-permitting resolution. It is well suited for studies of the Southern Ocean, but on the global scale deficiencies in the Pacific Ocean would have to be taken into account.

The growing field of ocean acidification research is concerned with the investigation of organism responses to increasing pCO2 values. One important approach in this context is culture work using seawater with adjusted CO2 levels. As aqueous pCO2 is difficult to measure directly in small-scale experiments, it is generally calculated from two other measured parameters of the carbonate system (often AT, CT or pH). Unfortunately, the overall uncertainties of measured and subsequently calculated values are often unknown. Especially under high pCO2, this can become a severe problem with respect to the interpretation of physiological and ecological data. In the few datasets from ocean acidification research where all three of these parameters were measured, pCO2 values calculated from AT and CT are typically about 30% lower (i.e. ~300 μatm at a target pCO2 of 1000 μatm) than those calculated from AT and pH or CT and pH. This study presents and discusses these discrepancies as well as likely consequences for the ocean acidification community. Until this problem is solved, one has to consider that calculated parameters of the carbonate system (e.g. pCO2, calcite saturation state) may not be comparable between studies, and that this may have important implications for the interpretation of CO2 perturbation experiments.

Seawater carbonate chemistry is typically calculated from two measured parameters. Depending on the choice of these input parameters, discrepancies in calculated pCO2 have been recognized by marine chemists, but the significance of this phenomenon for CO2 perturbation experiments has so far not been determined. To mimic different pCO2 scenarios, two common perturbation methods for seawater carbonate chemistry (changing either DIC or TA) were applied using state-of-the-art protocols and equipment. The carbonate system was over-constrained by measuring DIC, TA, pH, and pCO2. Calculated pCO2 matched measured pCO2 if pH and TA or pH and DIC were chosen as input parameters, whereas pCO2 calculated from TA and DIC was considerably lower than measured values. This has important implications for CO2 perturbation experiments. First, calculated pCO2 values may not be comparable if different input parameters were used. Second, responses of organisms to acidification may be overestimated when using TA and DIC for calculations. This is especially troublesome for experiments with calcifiers, as carbonate ion concentration and thus calcite or aragonite saturation state are overestimated. We suggest refraining from measuring TA and DIC only and rather include pH as input parameter for carbonate chemistry calculations.

During phytoplankton growth a fraction of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) assimilated by phytoplankton is exuded in the form of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which can be transformed into extracellular particulate organic carbon (POC). A major fraction of extracellular POC is associated with carbon of transparent exopolymer particles (TEP; carbon content = TEPC) that form from dissolved polysaccharides (PCHO). The exudation of PCHO is linked to an excessive uptake of DIC that is not directly quantifiable from utilisation of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), called carbon overconsumption. Given these conditions, the concept of assuming a constant stoichiometric carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio for estimating new production of POC from DIN uptake becomes inappropriate. Here, a model of carbon overconsumption is analysed, combining phytoplankton growth with TEPC formation. The model describes two modes of carbon overconsumption. The first mode is associated with DOC exudation during phytoplankton biomass accumulation. The second mode is decoupled from algal growth, but leads to a continuous rise in POC while particulate organic nitrogen (PON) remains constant. While including PCHO coagulation, the model goes beyond a purely physiological explanation of building up carbon rich particulate organic matter (POM). The model is validated against observations from a mesocosm study. Maximum likelihood estimates of model parameters, such as nitrogen- and carbon loss rates of phytoplankton, are determined. The optimisation yields results with higher rates for carbon exudation than for the loss of organic nitrogen. It also suggests that the PCHO fraction of exuded DOC was 63±20% during the mesocosm experiment. Optimal estimates are obtained for coagulation kernels for PCHO transformation into TEPC. Model state estimates are consistent with observations, where 30% of the POC increase was attributed to TEPC formation. The proposed model is of low complexity and is applicable for large-scale biogeochemical simulations.