Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




WATER WORLD
Spring plankton bloom hitches ride to sea's depths on ocean eddies
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 31, 2015


The bright blue and green colors in this satellite image show the North Atlantic Bloom. Image courtesy NASA.

Just as crocus and daffodil blossoms signal the start of a warmer season on land, a similar "greening" event - a massive bloom of microscopic plants, or phytoplankton - unfolds each spring in the North Atlantic Ocean from Bermuda to the Arctic.

Fertilized by nutrients that have built up during the winter, the cool waters of the North Atlantic come alive every spring and summer with a vivid display of color that stretches across hundreds and hundreds of miles.

North Atlantic Bloom turns ocean into sea of plankton
In what's known as the North Atlantic Bloom, millions of phytoplankton use sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO2) to grow and reproduce at the ocean's surface.

During photosynthesis, phytoplankton remove carbon dioxide from seawater and release oxygen as a by-product. That allows the oceans to absorb additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. If there were fewer phytoplankton, atmospheric carbon dioxide would increase.

Flowers ultimately wither and fade, but what eventually happens to these tiny plants produced in the sea? When phytoplankton die, the carbon in their cells sinks to the deep ocean.

Plankton integral part of oceanic "biological pump"
This so-called biological pump makes the North Atlantic Ocean efficient at soaking up CO2 from the air.

"Much of this 'particulate organic carbon,' especially the larger, heavier particles, sinks," says scientist Melissa Omand of the University of Rhode Island, co-author of a paper on the North Atlantic Bloom published in the journal Science.

"But we wanted to find out what's happening to the smaller, non-sinking phytoplankton cells from the bloom. Understanding the dynamics of the bloom and what happens to the carbon produced by it is important, especially for being able to predict how the oceans will affect atmospheric CO2 and ultimately climate."

"It's been a challenge to estimate carbon export from the ocean's surface waters to its depths based on measurements of properties such as phytoplankton carbon," says David Garrison, program director in NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences. "This paper describes a mechanism for doing that."

Tracking a bloom: Floats, gliders and other instruments
During fieldwork from the research vessels Bjarni Saemundsson and Knorr, the scientists used a float to follow a patch of seawater off Iceland. They observed the progression of the bloom by taking measurements from multiple platforms.

Autonomous gliders outfitted with sensors were used to gather data such as temperature, salinity and information about the chemistry and biology of the bloom - oxygen, nitrate, chlorophyll and the optical signatures of the particulate matter.

At the onset of the bloom and over the next month, four teardrop-shaped seagliders gathered 774 profiles to depths of up to 1,000 meters (3,281 feet).

Analysis of the profiles showed that about 10 percent had unusually high concentrations of phytoplankton bloom properties, even in deep waters, as well as high oxygen concentrations usually found at the surface.

"These profiles were showing what we initially described as 'bumps' at depths much deeper than phytoplankton can grow," says Omand.

Staircases to the deep: Ocean eddies
Using information collected at sea by Perry, D'Asaro and Lee, Mahadevan modeled ocean currents and eddies ("whirlpools" within currents) and their effects on the spring bloom.

"What we were seeing was surface water, rich with phytoplankton carbon, being transported downward by currents on the edges of eddies," Mahadevan says.

"Eddies hadn't been thought of as a major way organic matter is moved into the deeper ocean. But this type of eddy-driven 'subduction' could account for a significant downward movement of phytoplankton from the bloom."

In related work published in Science in 2012, the researchers found that eddies act as early triggers of the North Atlantic Bloom.

Eddies help keep phytoplankton in shallower water where they can be exposed to sunlight to fuel photosynthesis and growth.

Next, the scientists hope to quantify the transport of organic matter from the ocean's surface to its depths in regions beyond the North Atlantic and at other times of year and relate that to phytoplankton productivity.

Learning more about eddies and their link with plankton blooms will allow for more accurate global models of the ocean's carbon cycle, the researchers say, and improve the models' predictive capabilities.

In addition to Omand, other authors of the paper are Amala Mahadevan of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Eric D'Asaro and Craig Lee of the University of Washington, and Mary Jane Perry, Nathan Briggs and Ivona Cetiniae of the University of Maine. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
National Science Foundation
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








WATER WORLD
Massive study explores ocean response to abrupt climate change
San Francisco CA (SPX) Mar 31, 2015
A 30-foot-long core sample of Pacific Ocean seafloor is changing what we know about ocean resiliency in the face of rapidly changing climate. A new study reports that marine ecosystems can take thousands, rather than hundreds, of years to recover from climate-related upheavals. The study's authors - including Peter Roopnarine, PhD, of the California Academy of Sciences - analyzed thousands ... read more


WATER WORLD
Nine dead in Myanmar jade mine landslide: state media

Baby among 15 killed by landslide in Indian Kashmir

UN chief calls for more aid for Iraq displaced

UN vows to step up Iraq heritage protection

WATER WORLD
Australia eyes new air search radar

ISRO Says Multi-Object Tracking Radar Ready for Trials

Goddard releases open source core flight software suite to public

A first glimpse inside a macroscopic quantum state

WATER WORLD
DARPA seeking technology for unmanned surface vessel

Spring plankton bloom hitches ride to sea's depths on ocean eddies

NOAA study provides detailed projections of coral bleaching

Bacteria plays key role in long term storage of carbon in the ocean

WATER WORLD
Polar bears unlikely to thrive on land-based foods

UNH geologist identifies new source of methane for gas hydrates in Arctic

Antarctica just had its warmest day on record

Study proves pandas aren't loners

WATER WORLD
Diversity prevents resistance

Taxi drivers hospitalised after Beijing pesticide protest: police

Illegal cocoa farms threaten Ivory Coast primates

Photosynthesis hack needed to feed the world by 2050

WATER WORLD
200th anniversary of Tambora eruption a reminder of volcanic perils

Forecasting future flooding

State of emergency as super typhoon batters Micronesia

Death toll in Chile floods still likely to rise: official

WATER WORLD
Pygmies demand end to discrimination in DR Congo

Nigerian president quits voting station after tech glitch

Regional troops retake Nigerian town from Boko Haram

Nigerian army chief vows crackdown on election unrest

WATER WORLD
Researchers improve efficiency of human walking

'Little Foot' 3.67 million years old

How we hear distance

Earliest humans had diverse range of body types, just as we do today




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.