Vertical eddy iron fluxes support primary production in the open Southern Ocean

Takaya Uchida (), Dhruv Balwada, Ryan P. Abernathey, Galen A. McKinley, Shafer K. Smith and Marina Lévy
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Takaya Uchida: Columbia University in the City of New York
Dhruv Balwada: New York University
Ryan P. Abernathey: Columbia University in the City of New York
Galen A. McKinley: Columbia University in the City of New York
Shafer K. Smith: New York University
Marina Lévy: Institut Pierre Simon-Laplace

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract The primary productivity of the Southern Ocean ecosystem is limited by iron availability. Away from benthic and aeolian sources, iron reaches phytoplankton primarily when iron-rich subsurface waters enter the euphotic zone. Here, eddy-resolving physical/biogeochemical simulations of a seasonally-forced, open-Southern-Ocean ecosystem reveal that mesoscale and submesoscale isopycnal stirring effects a cross-mixed-layer-base transport of iron that sustains primary productivity. The eddy-driven iron supply and consequently productivity increase with model resolution. We show the eddy flux can be represented by specific well-tuned eddy parametrizations. Since eddy mixing rates are sensitive to wind forcing and large-scale hydrographic changes, these findings suggest a new mechanism for modulating the Southern Ocean biological pump on climate timescales.

Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-14955-0

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14955-0

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