Arctic Observations Identify Phytoplankton Community Composition as Driver of Carbon Flux Attenuation
Abstract The attenuation coefficient b is one of the most common ways to describe how strong the carbon flux is attenuated throughout the water column. Therefore, b is an essential input variable in many carbon flux and climate models. Marsay et al. (2015, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1415311112) pr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087465 |
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| author | I. Wiedmann E. Ceballos‐Romero M. Villa‐Alfageme A. H. H. Renner C. Dybwad H. van derJagt C. Svensen P. Assmy J. M. Wiktor A. Tatarek M. Różańska‐Pluta M. H. Iversen |
| author_facet | I. Wiedmann E. Ceballos‐Romero M. Villa‐Alfageme A. H. H. Renner C. Dybwad H. van derJagt C. Svensen P. Assmy J. M. Wiktor A. Tatarek M. Różańska‐Pluta M. H. Iversen |
| author_sort | I. Wiedmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The attenuation coefficient b is one of the most common ways to describe how strong the carbon flux is attenuated throughout the water column. Therefore, b is an essential input variable in many carbon flux and climate models. Marsay et al. (2015, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1415311112) proposed that the median surface water temperature (0–500 m) may be a predictor of b, but our observations from Arctic waters challenge this hypothesis. We found a highly variable attenuation coefficient (b = 0.43–1.84) in cold Arctic waters (<4.1 °C). Accordingly, we suggest that water temperature is not a globally valid predictor of the attenuation coefficient. We advocate instead that the phytoplankton composition and especially the relative abundance of diatoms can be used to parametrize the carbon flux attenuation in local and global carbon flux models. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d0fa124eabae43ddb818a801a0d32b07 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-d0fa124eabae43ddb818a801a0d32b072025-08-20T03:47:41ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072020-07-014714n/an/a10.1029/2020GL087465Arctic Observations Identify Phytoplankton Community Composition as Driver of Carbon Flux AttenuationI. Wiedmann0E. Ceballos‐Romero1M. Villa‐Alfageme2A. H. H. Renner3C. Dybwad4H. van derJagt5C. Svensen6P. Assmy7J. M. Wiktor8A. Tatarek9M. Różańska‐Pluta10M. H. Iversen11UiT The Arctic University of Norway Tromsø NorwayDepartamento de Física Aplicada II Universidad de Sevilla SpainDepartamento de Física Aplicada II Universidad de Sevilla SpainInstitute of Marine Research, Fram Centre Tromsø NorwayUiT The Arctic University of Norway Tromsø NorwayAlfred‐Wegener‐Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research Bremerhaven GermanyUiT The Arctic University of Norway Tromsø NorwayNorwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre Tromsø NorwayInstitute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences (IOPAN) Sopot PolandInstitute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences (IOPAN) Sopot PolandInstitute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences (IOPAN) Sopot PolandAlfred‐Wegener‐Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research Bremerhaven GermanyAbstract The attenuation coefficient b is one of the most common ways to describe how strong the carbon flux is attenuated throughout the water column. Therefore, b is an essential input variable in many carbon flux and climate models. Marsay et al. (2015, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1415311112) proposed that the median surface water temperature (0–500 m) may be a predictor of b, but our observations from Arctic waters challenge this hypothesis. We found a highly variable attenuation coefficient (b = 0.43–1.84) in cold Arctic waters (<4.1 °C). Accordingly, we suggest that water temperature is not a globally valid predictor of the attenuation coefficient. We advocate instead that the phytoplankton composition and especially the relative abundance of diatoms can be used to parametrize the carbon flux attenuation in local and global carbon flux models.https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087465biological carbon pumpcarbon flux attenuationdiatomscarbon exportMartin coefficient bsediment traps |
| spellingShingle | I. Wiedmann E. Ceballos‐Romero M. Villa‐Alfageme A. H. H. Renner C. Dybwad H. van derJagt C. Svensen P. Assmy J. M. Wiktor A. Tatarek M. Różańska‐Pluta M. H. Iversen Arctic Observations Identify Phytoplankton Community Composition as Driver of Carbon Flux Attenuation Geophysical Research Letters biological carbon pump carbon flux attenuation diatoms carbon export Martin coefficient b sediment traps |
| title | Arctic Observations Identify Phytoplankton Community Composition as Driver of Carbon Flux Attenuation |
| title_full | Arctic Observations Identify Phytoplankton Community Composition as Driver of Carbon Flux Attenuation |
| title_fullStr | Arctic Observations Identify Phytoplankton Community Composition as Driver of Carbon Flux Attenuation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Arctic Observations Identify Phytoplankton Community Composition as Driver of Carbon Flux Attenuation |
| title_short | Arctic Observations Identify Phytoplankton Community Composition as Driver of Carbon Flux Attenuation |
| title_sort | arctic observations identify phytoplankton community composition as driver of carbon flux attenuation |
| topic | biological carbon pump carbon flux attenuation diatoms carbon export Martin coefficient b sediment traps |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087465 |
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