Observations of vertical mixing in autumn and its effect on the autumn phytoplankton bloom

Wihsgott, Juliane U. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7909-0007; Sharples, Jonathan; Hopkins, Joanne E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1504-3671; Woodward, E. Malcolm S.; Hull, Tom; Greenwood, Naomi; Sivyer, David B.. 2019 Observations of vertical mixing in autumn and its effect on the autumn phytoplankton bloom. Progress in Oceanography, 177, 102059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2019.01.001

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2019.01.001

Abstract/Summary

This work examines the seasonal cycle of vertical density structure and its influence on primary production in a temperate shelf sea, with a particular focus on the breakdown of stratification in autumn. We do this by combining new, high resolution observations of water column structure, meteorological forcing, nitrate and chlorophyll fluorescence collected between March 2014 and July 2015 on the North West European Shelf. Our results challenge the generally accepted assumption that convection dominates over wind driven mixing resulting in seasonal breakdown of stratification. Furthermore we found, that vertical mixing in autumn not only transformed the vertical density structure but also the vertical structure of chlorophyll biomass and surface nutrients. The subsurface chlorophyll maximum was eroded and a vertically homogeneous profile of chlorophyll biomass established itself above the pycnocline. This increased mixing also led to replenishment of surface nitrate concentrations, which supported an autumn phytoplankton bloom. While the significance of phytoplankton blooms in autumn has previously not been well quantified, we argue that these can act as a significant contributor to the seasonal drawdown of carbon.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2019.01.001
ISSN:	00796611
Date made live:	19 Feb 2019 11:12 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522302

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2019.01.001

ISSN:

00796611

Date made live:

19 Feb 2019 11:12 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522302