Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 18 May 2007:
Vol. 316. no. 5827, pp. 1017 - 1021
DOI: 10.1126/science.1136221
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Mesoscale Eddies Drive Increased Silica Export in the Subtropical Pacific Ocean

Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson,1* Robert R. Bidigare,2 Tommy D. Dickey,3 Michael R. Landry,4 Carrie L. Leonard,5 Susan L. Brown,2 Francesco Nencioli,3 Yoshimi M. Rii,2 Kanchan Maiti,1 Jamie W. Becker,6 Thomas S. Bibby,7,8 Wil Black,3 Wei-Jun Cai,9 Craig A. Carlson,10 Feizhou Chen,9 Victor S. Kuwahara,3,11 Claire Mahaffey,2 Patricia M. McAndrew,2 Paul D. Quay,12 Michael S. Rappé,6 Karen E. Selph,2 Melinda P. Simmons,4,13 Eun Jin Yang4,14

Mesoscale eddies may play a critical role in ocean biogeochemistry by increasing nutrient supply, primary production, and efficiency of the biological pump, that is, the ratio of carbon export to primary production in otherwise nutrient-deficient waters. We examined a diatom bloom within a cold-core cyclonic eddy off Hawai`i. Eddy primary production, community biomass, and size composition were markedly enhanced but had little effect on the carbon export ratio. Instead, the system functioned as a selective silica pump. Strong trophic coupling and inefficient organic export may be general characteristics of community perturbation responses in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean.

1 Department of Geological Sciences and Marine Science Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
2 Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai`i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
3 Ocean Physics Laboratory, University of California at Santa Barbara, Goleta, CA 93117, USA.
4 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093–0227, USA.
5 BAE Systems, S2 Identification and Surveillance, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA.
6 Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai`i, Kaneohe, HI 96744, USA.
7 National Oceanography Center, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
8 Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
9 Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602–3636, USA.
10 Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106–9610, USA.
11 Faculty of Education, Soka University, Tokyo 192-8577, Japan.
12 School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195–5351, USA.
13 Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, San Francisco, CA 94129–0910, USA.
14 Marine Environment Research Department, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Seoul 425-600, South Korea.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cbnelson{at}geol.sc.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Subtropical ocean ecosystem structure changes forced by North Pacific climate variations.
R. R. Bidigare, F. Chai, M. R. Landry, R. Lukas, C. C. S. Hannides, S. J. Christensen, D. M. Karl, L. Shi, and Y. Chao (2009)
J. Plankton Res. 31, 1131-1139
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)