Search

An established one-dimensional (1-D) model of Shelf Sea Physics and Primary Production (S2P3) is adapted for flexible use in selected regional settings over selected periods of time. This Regional adaptation of S2P3, the S2P3-R framework (v1.0), can be efficiently used to investigate physical and biological phenomena in shelf seas that are strongly controlled by vertical processes. These include spring blooms that follow the onset of stratification, tidal mixing fronts that seasonally develop at boundaries between mixed and stratified water, and sub-surface chlorophyll maxima that persist throughout summer. While not representing 3-D processes, S2P3-R reveals the horizontal variation of the key 1-D (vertical) processes. S2P3-R should therefore only be used in regions where horizontal processes – including mean flows, eddy fluxes and internal tides – are known to exert a weak influence in comparison with vertical processes. In such cases, S2P3-R may be used as a highly versatile research tool, alongside more complex and computationally expensive models. In undergraduate oceanography modules and research projects, the model serves as an effective practical tool for linking theory and field observations. Three different regional configurations of S2P3-R are described, illustrating a range of diagnostics, evaluated where practical with observations. The model can be forced with daily meteorological variables for any selected year in the reanalysis era (1948 onwards). Example simulations illustrate the considerable extent of synoptic-to-interannual variability in the physics and biology of shelf seas. In discussion, the present limitations of S2P3-R are emphasised, and future developments are outlined.

Marine phytoplankton account for about 50% of all global net primary productivity (NPP). Active fluorometry, mainly Fast Repetition Rate fluorometry (FRRf), has been advocated as means of providing high resolution estimates of NPP. However, not measuring CO2-fixation directly, FRRf instead provides photosynthetic quantum efficiency estimates from which electron transfer rates (ETR) and ultimately CO2-fixation rates can be derived. Consequently, conversions of ETRs to CO2-fixation requires knowledge of the electron requirement for carbon fixation (Phi(e,C), ETR/CO2 uptake rate) and its dependence on environmental gradients. Such knowledge is critical for large scale implementation of active fluorescence to better characterise CO2-uptake. Here we examine the variability of experimentally determined Phi(e,C) values in relation to key environmental variables with the aim of developing new working algorithms for the calculation of Phi(e,C) from environmental variables. Coincident FRRf and C-14-uptake and environmental data from 14 studies covering 12 marine regions were analysed via a meta-analytical, non-parametric, multivariate approach. Combining all studies, Phi(e,C) varied between 1.15 and 54.2 mol e(-) (mol C)(-1) with a mean of 10.9 +/- 6.91 mol e(-) mol C)(-1). Although variability of Phi(e,C) was related to environmental gradients at global scales, region-specific analyses provided far improved predictive capability. However, use of regional Phi(e,C) algorithms requires objective means of defining regions of interest, which remains challenging. Considering individual studies and specific small-scale regions, temperature, nutrient and light availability were correlated with Phi(e,C) albeit to varying degrees and depending on the study/region and the composition of the extant phytoplankton community. At the level of large biogeographic regions and distinct water masses, Phi(e,C) was related to nutrient availability, chlorophyll, as well as temperature and/or salin

The CROZet natural iron bloom and EXport experiment (CROZEX) investigated the annual phytoplankton bloom that occurs in the vicinity of the Crozet plateau in the Polar Frontal Zone (PFZ) of the Southern Ocean. Shipboard manipulation experiments designed to investigate potential responses of phytoplankton community structure and elemental stoichiometry to iron (Fe) and/or light perturbation are compared to in situ data collected during CROZEX. The outcome of individual experiments was strongly influenced by initial phytoplankton community structure. For example Fe amendment of high (>8 μM) silicic acid waters resulted in a strong response by medium-sized diatoms, including Eucampia antarctica. In contrast Phaeocystis antarctica dominated the community response to increased Fe within an experiment initiated during the early declining stage of the bloom. Conversely, small diatoms responded more strongly to increased irradiance, while the population of very large diatoms remained relatively static. Consistent with experimental results, the intense natural blooms north of the Crozet plateau were observed to be dominated by either P. antarctica or medium-sized diatoms while small phytoplankton and large diatoms dominated lower-chlorophyll waters in the south. In situ data and results from experiments supported previous observations of lower nitrate to phosphate removal ratios for diatoms compared to P. antarctica. Experimental and in situ data also supported previous work showing that silicic acid to nitrate removal ratios can be reduced under conditions of enhanced Fe availability. Higher irradiance decreased this ratio still further. Interactions between Fe and light were thus likely to have contributed to the observed decoupling of the major element cycles between the intense bloom that occurs north of Crozet and more typical PFZ conditions to the South. Specifically, silicic acid became exhausted in both systems, with drawdown in the south potentially resulting from c

The CROZet natural iron bloom and EXport experiment (CROZEX) investigated phytoplankton blooms in the vicinity of the Crozet Plateau in the polar frontal zone (PFZ) of the Southern Ocean. Peak chlorophyll concentrations reached during an intense bloom within naturally iron (Fe)-fertilised regions north of the plateau were an order of magnitude higher than those observed in deeper mixed layers and low-Fe waters to the south. To establish the factors influencing phytoplankton dynamics, a suite of in situ phytoplankton physiological measurements and shipboard Fe–light perturbation experiments was performed. Addition of Fe in experiments performed during bloom decline north of the plateau resulted in increased accumulation of phytoplankton biomass and changes in a number of phytoplankton physiological characteristics. In particular photosystem II (PSII) photochemical efficiencies (Fv/Fm) measured by fast repetition rate fluorometry increased above in situ values within 24 h of Fe amendment, suggesting that Fe stress had contributed to bloom termination. In contrast, responses to Fe amendment were minor within an experiment initiated in low-silicic acid, post-bloom waters south of the Plateau. Within the intense bloom in the north, light limitation due to self-shading may have constrained the peak phytoplankton standing stock. However, in the absence of Fe amendment, incubation at higher than in situ irradiance levels had little influence on phytoplankton biomass accumulation for declining bloom populations. Instead reduced Fv/Fm, reflecting increased photoinhibitory damage to PSII, was observed in high-light incubations and was also apparent in situ. Interactions between Fe and light availability thus influenced phytoplankton physiology and growth and potentially contributed to bloom longevity during CROZEX.