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Linking deep convection and phytoplankton blooms in the northern Labrador Sea in a changing climate.
- Source :
- PLoS ONE; 1/25/2018, Vol. 13 Issue 1, p1-17, 17p
- Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Wintertime convective mixing plays a pivotal role in the sub-polar North Atlantic spring phytoplankton blooms by favoring phytoplankton survival in the competition between light-dependent production and losses due to grazing and gravitational settling. We use satellite and ocean reanalyses to show that the area-averaged maximum winter mixed layer depth is positively correlated with April chlorophyll concentration in the northern Labrador Sea. A simple theoretical framework is developed to understand the relative roles of winter/spring convection and gravitational sedimentation in spring blooms in this region. Combining climate model simulations that project a weakening of wintertime Labrador Sea convection from Arctic sea ice melt with our framework suggests a potentially significant reduction in the initial fall phytoplankton population that survive the winter to seed the region’s spring bloom by the end of the 21<superscript>st</superscript> century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- OCEAN convection
PHYTOPLANKTON
CHLOROPHYLL
ALGAL blooms
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 127595447
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191509